Social Security Administration Drops Bomb on Kentucky
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – Another 1,965 people in eastern Kentucky could
lose their federal Social Security Disability Benefits because of disgraced Social Security attorney, Eric Conn, who made
millions by bribing Social Security Judge David Black Daugherty to approve disability cases for his
clients without holding a Hearing..
The Social Security Administration (SSA) plans to notify nearly 2,000 people in eastern Kentucky that they will have to defend their status in court. All of them are former clients of flamboyant attorney, Eric Conn, who billed himself as “Mr. Social Security” in television ads before his empire crumbled beneath the weight of a federal investigation. About half of those new cases involve Conn and a convicted former Social Security Administrative Law Judge David Daugherty.
The new cases were identified by the Social Security Office of the
Inspector General in November. U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers’ office said
notifications will go out soon, but in a piecemeal fashion instead of
all at once. People affected will have a hearing before an
administrative law judge to determine if they can keep their benefits.
People will have at least 30 days to gather evidence and hire attorneys.
Disability payments will continue throughout the redetermination
process.
These new batch of cases are in addition to the 1,800 cases associated with Conn’s law practice the federal government has already reviewed. Some of them have sued the government seeking to stop those Re-determination Hearings.
(Pictured above at right, Former Social Security Commissioner, Michael Astrue)
“It is heartbreaking to witness the tragic impact that Eric C. Conn’s fraud scheme continues to have on the lives of people living in Eastern Kentucky,” Rogers said. “While I appreciate notification from the Social Security Administration, I question the need for additional redetermination hearings while litigation is still pending in the federal court system.”
Beginning in May 2015, the federal government suspended benefits for hundreds of eastern Kentuckians associated with Attorney Conn and Judge Daugherty, prompting panic in one of the poorest regions of the country heavily dependent on those checks. The government eventually restored those benefits until each person could have a hearing, but not before a few people killed themselves in what family members said was caused by the stress of losing their checks.
Eventually, 1,800 people had their cases reviewed and 1,500 had redetermination hearings. Of those 1,800 initial cases, about 53 percent kept their benefits “received favorable or partially favorable decisions,” Hinkle said.
Those hearings took more than a year to resolve. Nearly all of the people involved could not afford attorneys, prompting a nationwide search for lawyers who could represent them for free. Robert Johns, executive director of AppalRed Legal Aid, said 136 lawyers volunteered, including 59 from Kentucky.
“We thought we were done with that,” Johns said of those initial 1,800 cases. “We’re going to likely be gearing up for the same kind of effort to try to get these (new) folks some help.”
pleaded guilty to federal charges last year. But just before he was supposed to be sentenced, removed his electronic monitoring bracelet and fled. He led state and federal authorities on a chase for six months before he was captured in December at a Pizza Hut in Honduras. He’s now back in custody in Kentucky, where he faces more charges.
Ned Pillersdorf, an eastern Kentucky attorney who has represented several of Conn’s former clients, said he worried about the impact this second round of notices will have on the region.
“This will hit eastern Kentucky like a nuclear bomb,” he said.
Seventy-two years ago, death fell from the sky over Japan. Two years ago, death fell on Eastern Kentucky in the form of letters from the Social Security Administration. Some of the deaths came by way of suicides.
One can hardly think of a crime a Judge could commit more egregious than Bribery. For a Judge to use his position for personal gain is unforgivable. For a Judge to extort bribes from the lawyers that appear before him is a crime worthy of going to jail. Judge David Black Daugherty is such a Judge.
He extorted bribes from Attorney Eric Conn. Attorney Conn was found guilty of defrauding the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the people of the United States of about $60 Million. Judge
Daugherty’s decisions in cases in which Conn bribed him obligated the Government to pay more than $550 million in lifetime SSA benefits. Daugherty pleaded guilty to two counts of receiving illegal gratuities.
Daugherty was charged along with Attorney Eric C. Conn. Conn made bribery payments to Daugherty from October 2004 to April 2011. Conn pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government money and one count of payment of gratuities.
He was released on Bail, and placed under house arrest. He was forced to wear a GPS ankle monitor while awaiting sentencing. Sometime in June he removed the GPS monitor and fled the country.
He was arrested on December 2nd in Honduras and returned to the United States. A trial date for the escape charges has been set for February 2018.
Conn was a millionaire only a few months ago. Now he is broke and behind bars convicted of fraud and bribery. He dubbed himself “Mr. Social Security" and collected more than $7 million in payments for filing bogus Social Security Disability Claims from 2004 to 2011.
Conn had been sentenced in absentia on July 14 to 12 years in prison. He was ordered to repay $5.7 million to the U S Government (Treasury) and $45.5 million to the Social Security Administration Trust Fund.
A judge ruled that Conn violated the terms of his Bond when he escaped to Honduras. He has been forced to forfeit the property put up for his Bail. That includes his Floyd County law complex, valued at $659,100.
The astonishing variety of social media postings and nonstop chatter about The Conn and Daugherty Cases have revealed a level of satire that has produced no shortage of laughter. This humorous interlude is in sharp contrast to the gloom that has descended over the Kentucky mountains. For more than two years the dark clouds caused by Conn and his colorful array of conspirators has stubbornly hung over the most poverty-stricken region in America.
Now that the laughter is dying down, some sobering facts are emerging. Almost a thousand of Conn's former clients have lost their Social Security Benefits. They have also lost their health insurance and are receiving ominous letters from the Social Security Administration demanding those who struggled to exist on $800 per month they must pay back amounts often in excess of $100,000. There have been confirmed suicides. How many? We may never know the true number for sure.
Kentucky feels a lot like Hiroshima and Nagasaki.We did not see it coming.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) plans to notify nearly 2,000 people in eastern Kentucky that they will have to defend their status in court. All of them are former clients of flamboyant attorney, Eric Conn, who billed himself as “Mr. Social Security” in television ads before his empire crumbled beneath the weight of a federal investigation. About half of those new cases involve Conn and a convicted former Social Security Administrative Law Judge David Daugherty.
These new batch of cases are in addition to the 1,800 cases associated with Conn’s law practice the federal government has already reviewed. Some of them have sued the government seeking to stop those Re-determination Hearings.
(Pictured above at right, Former Social Security Commissioner, Michael Astrue)
“It is heartbreaking to witness the tragic impact that Eric C. Conn’s fraud scheme continues to have on the lives of people living in Eastern Kentucky,” Rogers said. “While I appreciate notification from the Social Security Administration, I question the need for additional redetermination hearings while litigation is still pending in the federal court system.”
Beginning in May 2015, the federal government suspended benefits for hundreds of eastern Kentuckians associated with Attorney Conn and Judge Daugherty, prompting panic in one of the poorest regions of the country heavily dependent on those checks. The government eventually restored those benefits until each person could have a hearing, but not before a few people killed themselves in what family members said was caused by the stress of losing their checks.
Eventually, 1,800 people had their cases reviewed and 1,500 had redetermination hearings. Of those 1,800 initial cases, about 53 percent kept their benefits “received favorable or partially favorable decisions,” Hinkle said.
Those hearings took more than a year to resolve. Nearly all of the people involved could not afford attorneys, prompting a nationwide search for lawyers who could represent them for free. Robert Johns, executive director of AppalRed Legal Aid, said 136 lawyers volunteered, including 59 from Kentucky.
“We thought we were done with that,” Johns said of those initial 1,800 cases. “We’re going to likely be gearing up for the same kind of effort to try to get these (new) folks some help.”
pleaded guilty to federal charges last year. But just before he was supposed to be sentenced, removed his electronic monitoring bracelet and fled. He led state and federal authorities on a chase for six months before he was captured in December at a Pizza Hut in Honduras. He’s now back in custody in Kentucky, where he faces more charges.
Ned Pillersdorf, an eastern Kentucky attorney who has represented several of Conn’s former clients, said he worried about the impact this second round of notices will have on the region.
“This will hit eastern Kentucky like a nuclear bomb,” he said.
Seventy-two years ago, death fell from the sky over Japan. Two years ago, death fell on Eastern Kentucky in the form of letters from the Social Security Administration. Some of the deaths came by way of suicides.
One can hardly think of a crime a Judge could commit more egregious than Bribery. For a Judge to use his position for personal gain is unforgivable. For a Judge to extort bribes from the lawyers that appear before him is a crime worthy of going to jail. Judge David Black Daugherty is such a Judge.
He extorted bribes from Attorney Eric Conn. Attorney Conn was found guilty of defrauding the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the people of the United States of about $60 Million. Judge
Daugherty’s decisions in cases in which Conn bribed him obligated the Government to pay more than $550 million in lifetime SSA benefits. Daugherty pleaded guilty to two counts of receiving illegal gratuities.
Daugherty was charged along with Attorney Eric C. Conn. Conn made bribery payments to Daugherty from October 2004 to April 2011. Conn pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government money and one count of payment of gratuities.
He was released on Bail, and placed under house arrest. He was forced to wear a GPS ankle monitor while awaiting sentencing. Sometime in June he removed the GPS monitor and fled the country.
He was arrested on December 2nd in Honduras and returned to the United States. A trial date for the escape charges has been set for February 2018.
Conn was a millionaire only a few months ago. Now he is broke and behind bars convicted of fraud and bribery. He dubbed himself “Mr. Social Security" and collected more than $7 million in payments for filing bogus Social Security Disability Claims from 2004 to 2011.
Conn had been sentenced in absentia on July 14 to 12 years in prison. He was ordered to repay $5.7 million to the U S Government (Treasury) and $45.5 million to the Social Security Administration Trust Fund.
A judge ruled that Conn violated the terms of his Bond when he escaped to Honduras. He has been forced to forfeit the property put up for his Bail. That includes his Floyd County law complex, valued at $659,100.
The astonishing variety of social media postings and nonstop chatter about The Conn and Daugherty Cases have revealed a level of satire that has produced no shortage of laughter. This humorous interlude is in sharp contrast to the gloom that has descended over the Kentucky mountains. For more than two years the dark clouds caused by Conn and his colorful array of conspirators has stubbornly hung over the most poverty-stricken region in America.
Now that the laughter is dying down, some sobering facts are emerging. Almost a thousand of Conn's former clients have lost their Social Security Benefits. They have also lost their health insurance and are receiving ominous letters from the Social Security Administration demanding those who struggled to exist on $800 per month they must pay back amounts often in excess of $100,000. There have been confirmed suicides. How many? We may never know the true number for sure.
Kentucky feels a lot like Hiroshima and Nagasaki.We did not see it coming.
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