Thomas Cueto; jailed for false PTS claims
Scotty sends us a link to an article which reports that Bridgeport, WV’s Thomas Cueto was sentenced for falsely claiming that he suffered from Post Traumatic Stress from his tour of Vietnam;
The Exponent Telegram reports that 66-year-old Thomas Cueto served 13 months in Vietnam but was never wounded nor did he earn the Bronze Star, the military’s fourth-highest individual award.
Based on those claims, he received about $503,000 in posttraumatic stress disorder benefits for which he wasn’t entitled.
U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley imposed a 2-year prison term Tuesday. It will be followed by three years of supervised release.
According to the Exponent Telegram, Cueto is also a former state trooper;
Cueto, who is to report to prison in mid-February, also was ordered to pay restitution of $2,000 a month while he’s incarcerated, and $1,000 a month after that.
The defendant’s restitution will come from his only source of income, a $6,584 monthly State Police disability retirement plan check that, according to Burlas, Cueto will continue to receive even when he’s in prison.
From an earlier article when Cueto was indicted;
The defendant, who worked as a trooper for 11 years starting in 1976, did serve in the Army from April 21, 1969, to Jan. 20, 1972, which included a period in Vietnam, the government has alleged.
But on his report of discharge from the Army, also known as a DD-214, Cueto falsely reported information to the government, according to Ihlenfeld.
“He was granted benefits based on the awards he claimed, and began to receive those around May 1999 and continued to receive them at least through 2012, when the investigation began,” Ihlenfeld said Tuesday evening.
I know of a phony CPO who could stand a little scrutiny, too.
Category: Phony soldiers
$6584 a month for 11 years worth of State Trooper time? They ought to take away every penny while he is incarcerated and then a helluva lot more than a 1000/month once he is released.
Six and a half grand a month before restitution. Either way, he still keeps five and a half grand a month. Totting that all out? Roughly 65, 66 grand a year. Fuck this guy and everything he might have stood for, to be able to live comfortably and still swindle half a mil out of the VA.
C’mon we’re talking WV here. You could take away a lot more of that and still stay comfy in a double wide instead of downgrading to a single wide. 😉
Right, right. Forgot, WV. Although I do know several areas near my station that I’d be living la vida bien with a 2 bed 1 bath apartment in the good part of town…
Dude has some problems too… they dropped nine counts of fraud on him for “doctor shopping” at his local VA facility. When he was arrested, they found over 500 methadone pills at his place!
I wonder how many “pain pills” are at the “Crazy Person in Oregon” home???
I would think the State Police should look at his Disability retirement as well, a pretty obvious trend in his actions …
Let me try and understand this. He defrauds the VA for $508,000 dollars, and all they want to take back is a measly $1,000 a month after hes is out of prison. They need to take his entire state police pension until the day he passes.
About damn time.
Good job WV VA.
Let us hope that he will be outed as a former state trooper to the entire prison population when he begins his sentence.
I assume that the $500K+ will be permanently garnished from his retirement cash.
Well, at least one LSOS is paying the piper. Now if only the one who is annoying as hell could be stuck with that decision….
Probably not, Ex-PH2.
At $2k per month, he’d have to live 250+ months to pay it back – without any accrued interest. With interest, probably twice that long.
He’s in his 60s now. You do the math.
I’m guessing Uncle Sam never sees more than 10-20% of the value of the $$$ this guy got via his scams.
Sealy McChippendale could not be reached for comment.
And why that fucker isn’t under the jail yet…oh wait, it’s Maryland. Nevermind.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t any felony conviction negate any police/public service retirement package? or was this not a felony conviction?
That only works if get convicted prior to retirement.
Almost seven grand a month for eleven years as a trooper? Damn; I should have worked in WV instead of SC. They need to take at least 50% of every dime this shit stick gets until he has met full restitution or is no longer on this side of the dirt.
I read the news article. How in the heck is 11 years a “lifetime of service”? My retirement check will be around $2500 for 17 years AD + 23 years Reserve. My choice, but guess I picked the wrong career field! That being said, the current VA process encourages this sort of thing. Heretical statement, but there are way too many “veterans” with less than a year of service (some WAY less) getting the same sort of services and disability payments as a seriously war-wounded veteran. One interesting result of this sort of thing is now HRC does not consider a DD-214 as valid proof of service without corresponding pay records from DFAS.
Word.
And if you say anything about it, you are painted as a malcontent.
How much will this incarceration cost the taxpayers? Garnish his retirement and whatever else he earns…dont punish those he has already victimized by forcing them to pay for his incarceration…
Bill him for the 3 hots and the cot he will enjoy, and make sure he goes to Federal pound you in the ass prison…