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Woman Attempts to Fake Her Own Death to Avoid Potential 10yr Prison Term, Is Found Hiding in Closet

Turd Fergusen

Turd Fergusen

Veteran Member
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wheeler-09.jpg

A West Virginia woman faked her death to avoid a potential 10-year prison term — but was found hiding in a closet at home after a massive three-day search, according to authorities.

Julie Wheeler was reported missing Sunday by her husband and 17-year-old son who said she fell over the main overlook at the New River Gorge National River, police and park officials said.

It led to a huge, multi-agency search and rescue mission, with helicopters, sniffer dogs, abseilers and a diving crew searching a nearby gorge, The Register-Herald said at the time.

As part of the search, investigators got a search warrant to get her phones and computers — and found her “alive and well” Tuesday hiding in a closet in her home in Beaver, they say.

“It was all planned. The entire thing was planned,” the lead investigator, Trooper C.A. Dunn, told WVVA.

Wheeler and her husband, Rodney Wheeler, were arrested Tuesday on multiple charges including conspiracy and giving false information to West Virginia State Police. It’s unclear whether the son — accused in the criminal complaint of helping plant items to suggest she was fell from the cliff — will face criminal charges.
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Full Story:
https://nypost.com/2020/06/04/woman-who-faked-death-to-avoid-prison-found-hiding-in-a-closet/
 
Wow, she's a piece of shit. She defrauded the VA & her own relative.

Julie M. Wheeler, 43, of Beckley, faces up to 10 years of incarceration, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release when sentenced on May 20, 2020. She will also be subject to an order of restitution in an amount ranging from $302,131 to $469,983, with the final determination to be made by the Court at sentencing.
[...]
The VA provided health care benefits to certain Korean and Vietnam War veteran’s children who were diagnosed with spina bifida through the Spina Bifida Health Care Benefits Program. Spina bifida is a type of birth defect where there is an incomplete closing of the spine, potentially leading to complications including difficulty in walking, poor bladder or bowel control, and difficulty in mobility. A veteran’s child, K.L., received such a diagnosis and qualified for in home care through this VA program.

Wheeler was related to K.L and was also the owner of a homecare services company, JRW Homecare Support Services. Wheeler was hired to provide services to K.L. due to K.L.’s spina bifida condition at the VA approved rate of $736 a day to provide eight hours of daily services. Wheeler’s care was supposed to include bathing, grooming, changing K.L.’s clothes and other issues associated with K.L.’s hygiene, food intake, and lifestyle.

Wheeler submitted fraudulent applications where she filled out VA forms and was overpaid for providing care for K.L. Specifically, Wheeler did not provide K.L. the care for and during the time period described. Wheeler submitted claims to the VA stating that she provided care for K.L. eight hours a day, seven days a week, from October 2016 to April 2018 at the full daily rate of $736 a day. Wheeler gave a statement to the VA and the FBI admitting that she greatly inflated the rate and quality of the care that she provided to K.L. This was corroborated by other witnesses who provided statements that Wheeler did not provide eight hours of daily care. Wheeler further admitted that her conduct defrauded the VA of hundreds of thousands of dollars and deprived the victim of services. The victim of the spina bifida diagnosis, K.L., has since passed away.
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My state again, *sigh*. FWIW, the New River Gorge is huge and very high, and if someone were to actually fall over the observation deck, finding them could be difficult if not impossible, and very expensive. There was a young man who vanished years ago, with his car found on the bridge; they only recently found his remains far below (he may have fallen). Seriously, Google pics of the New River Gorge and you’ll get the idea. Bonus, it’s absolutely stunning.
 
I'll add to @Mountaineer95 The man you speak about left his car pulled over near the bridge. They had no idea if he jumped and if so where from the bridge he did. The bridge is 3,030 feet long and it obviously has two sides to choose from. This dumb bitches family said she fell over at the main overlook which is not that big (see below) and therefore she'd be at the bottom.

NPS-Photo-Viewing-platforms-on-the-boardwalk-offer-scenic-views-of-the-New-River-Gorge-Bridge.jpg
 
Woman who faked her own death sentenced to federal prison
BECKLEY, W.Va. (WSAZ) – A woman who faked her own death to avoid sentencing will serve 42 months in prison for health care fraud, U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart said Tuesday.

Julie Wheeler, who’s from Beckley, was found hiding in her closet after her family reported she fell into the New River Gorge National River and died.

Officers from several agencies, along with rescue crews, conducted a two-day search for Wheeler, which included a helicopter.

They soon found her hiding in a closet in her own home.
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www.wsaz.com

Woman who faked her own death sentenced to federal prison

Julie Wheeler, who’s from Beckley, was found hiding in her closet after her family reported she fell into the New River Gorge National River and died.
www.wsaz.com www.wsaz.com
 
Tip o' the Day: don't fake your death on federal land, especially if you are already facing federal charges.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – United States Attorney Mike Stuart announced that Julie M. Wheeler received a sentence of 12 months and one day for her role in a federal conspiracy to obstruct justice. Wheeler’s sentence was ordered to be served consecutively to her 42 month sentence previously imposed for her federal health care fraud conviction. The consecutive sentence increases Julie Wheeler’s total sentence of incarceration to 54 months of federal incarceration. In a separate criminal hearing last month, Rodney Wheeler pled guilty to the federal felony offense of conspiracy to obstruct justice. Rodney Wheeler faces up to five years of incarceration, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release when he is sentenced on April 5, 2021.

“Julie Wheeler faked a traumatic death to avoid her judgment day with the courts. While she was found hiding in a closet she was also hiding from justice. The scheme put many lives at risk and wasted valuable resources,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “By conspiring to avoid her federal sentence for health care fraud, she, with the aid of her husband, only made matters worse. Julie added another year to her sentence and Rodney now has a federal felony conviction for which he will soon be sentenced".
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L I N K
 
Turd Fergusen said:
I'll add to @Mountaineer95 The man you speak about left his car pulled over near the bridge. They had no idea if he jumped and if so where from the bridge he did. The bridge is 3,030 feet long and it obviously has two sides to choose from. This dumb bitches family said she fell over at the main overlook which is not that big (see below) and therefore she'd be at the bottom.

View attachment 37248
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About that young man (Robert Kovak i think is his name): I have a theory. I think he may have pulled over at night for some type of car issue, or maybe he felt sick and needed to vomit...whatever the reason. And I think even though he was safely on the shoulder, that a vehicle was heading towards him and in the dark, with blinding headlights on him, he may have instinctively jumped over the guardrail to be safely out of the way, not realizing in this split second that he wasn’t jumping over to a grassy area, but to a huge fall that killed him. So, not suicide. When I lived in Raleigh, this happened twice, in the same general area of the I440 beltline: someone pulled over on the shoulder at night to help another motorist, and to get out of the way of incoming vehicles, hops over the guardrail into the “median” which didn’t exist and was instead a high void, landing to their deaths far below, in/near Crabtree Creek.

Especially if it was a semi barreling towards him, I could see Robert being frightened and (incorrectly, most likely) assuming he was in danger and needed to get out of the way. Again this theory only works at night.
 
Raleigh County man sentenced after faking his wife’s death at the New River Gorge
CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – A Raleigh County man was sentenced to eight months of confinement for his role for faking his wife’s death at the New River Gorge back in May 2020.

Rodney Wheeler, 48, of Beckley, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice on January 5. He was ordered to serve two months of incarceration in federal prison, followed by six months of home confinement and then three years of supervised release.
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Full Article:
www.wowktv.com

Raleigh County man sentenced after faking his wife’s death at the New River Gorge

A Raleigh County man was sentenced to eight months of confinement for his role for faking his wife’s death at the New River Gorge back in May 2020.
www.wowktv.com www.wowktv.com
 
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