Summary: Kentucky’s Eric C. Conn pled not guilty to fraud and conspiracy for allegedly faking disability claims for decades.
With a name like Conn, being a scammer seemed to be nothing short of destiny. ABC News reports that Eric C. Conn of Kentucky has been indicted on charges that he made millions by paying a doctor and judge to help him obtain fake disability claims. He was indicted on Friday and arrested late Monday.
Conn was known as “Mr. Social Security.” In 1993, he formed his own practice in a trailer in Stanville, Kentucky; and he grew that business into the third most lucrative disability firm in the nation, bringing in more than $20 million in fees from 2001 to 2013. He was well known for his colorful billboards and outrageous TV ads, which often featured models and bikini girls.
Conn was indicted along with Social Security judge David Daugherty and Dr. Alfred Bradley Adkins, a clinical psychologist. The three of them are charged with 18 counts of fraud and conspiracy.
On Tuesday afternoon, Conn and Adkins arrived at the courthouse wearing hand and leg irons. The two men pled not guilty.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell said that the three created an intricate scheme using their knowledge and positions to fraudulently take $600 million from the federal government.
In 2013, the U.S. Senate published a 161-page report titled “How Some Legal, Medical and Judicial Professionals Abused Social Security Disability Programs for the Country’s Most Vulnerable: A Case Study of the Conn Law Firm.” In the scathing report, it detailed Conn’s relationship to Daugherty and four doctors. It accused Conn of paying doctors into signing forms that said his healthy clients were disabled. Then Judge Daugherty would allegedly rubber stamp the claims without a hearing.
Adkins was the only doctor in the report that was indicted. Another had died and the other two were unlisted.
Last summer, the Social Security Administration cut off payments to hundreds of Conn’s clients who were poor coal miners in eastern Kentucky and West Virginia. Despite the 2013 report, Conn had maintained good standing with the Kentucky Bar Association until his arrest.
Adkins’ attorney Jonah Stevens said his client “has the presumption of innocence.” He was released on his own recognizance on the condition he remove firearms from his home.
Conn remains in custody until his detention hearing, which is set for Thursday.
Source: ABC News
