Federal Jury Indicts Caldwell County Man

A Caldwell County man is facing a federal indictment for allegedly defrauding the government for 20 years. U.S. Attorney David Hale says between September 1991 and October 2011, 47-year old Travis L. Vickery, who was not disabled, knowingly and willfully concealed and failed to disclose to the Social Security Administration that he was able to work and not disabled.

The indictment says Vickery knowingly and willfully executed a scheme and artifice to defraud the Medicaid Program, by falsely representing he was disabled from working, and thereby received health care benefits, items, and services to which he was not entitled. Hale says if convicted at trial, Vickery faces no more than 15 years in prison, a fine of 500-thousand dollars plus restitution, and a period of no more than three years of supervised release.

Vickery is scheduled for arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lanny King January 17 in Paducah. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James Barr and was investigated by the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General.