Air Force veteran Jerry Smith, of Florida, has pleaded guilty to pretending that he was legally blind at medical evaluations, in order to fraudulently collect nearly $250,000 in veterans’ benefits over a five-year period, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. (Joshua Magbanua/U.S. Air Force)
A 73-year-old Florida veteran who feigned blindness to collect disability payments and other benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs faces a maximum 10-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to receiving stolen government property, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Jerry Smith, of New Smyrna Beach, falsely represented to the VA that he was legally blind and that his medical condition kept him from working, driving and performing basic daily functions, according to the announcement by Gregory W. Kehoe of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
Between 2017 and 2021, Smith collected $244,953.70 in VA disability compensation and benefits after pretending to have extremely low vision at medical evaluations in order to obtain a service-connected diagnosis that qualified him for the benefits, Kehoe said.
“In reality, Smith’s vision was significantly better than what he had represented during eye examinations and in his statements to the VA, as he could drive, read, navigate around people and obstacles in stores, conduct transactions at cash registers and drive-through ATMs, and he worked as a firearms specialist and school guardian,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in its statement.
Smith served in the Air Force in 1970 and had reported blurred vision from working as a welder during military service, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported.
Security video from Smith’s job as a school guardian at Spruce Creek High School, in Port Orange, Fla., showed him walking, talking, reading and observing students and parents entering and leaving the school, the News-Journal reported.
He worked for the Volusia County School District between 2018 and 2021.
The case was investigated by the VA’s Office of Inspector General.
Smith pleaded guilty to one count of receiving stolen government property, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
A sentencing date has not been scheduled for Smith, who reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President JD Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a written statement.
