Judge sentences former Phoenix VA Director Sharon Helman to probation
The sooner we get rid of everybody associated with this administration the better. C’mon January 2017.
We are drowning in corruption. Tax revolt. We are funding the corruption.
Kneel! Kneel before your government employee masters!
Bring them offerings of bribes and bonuses lest they smite you!
The bureaucrats at the VA are organized crime.
Idiot obama’s idiot minions defend idiocy.
Maybe she also sees to it that recently-departed vets turn in an 'absentee ballot'?
Sharon Helman, Ex-VA Chief in Phoenix, Pleads Guilty to Felony Charge
My co-worker was listening to a union meeting about protesting a plan to privatize the VA in a couple of weeks. They will march in front of VA facilities demanding they *not* privatize. You can bet they are also astroturfing for Hillary but what was not said in the meeting overlooked the obvious point. Privatizing the VA would mean kicking out a lot of overpaid underworking union jobs, which is their only real concern.
Ask any of these union slugs if cutting their pay 5% or 10% would guarantee the VA had the resources to fix their problems, would these slugs agree to it? HELL, NO would be their answer. Don’t let them tell you they are protesting for the good of the veterans. They are protesting to protect their cushy jobs.
OK, they're outraged - now what? Strongly-worded letter #522, which will go straight into Lynch's circular file, no doubt. The Obama admin will keep right on doing these things because they know the GOPe are a bunch of loser wimps.
the only thing GOP lawmakers do is “blast” decisions by the current administration, while never taking any action.
I guess “blasting” raises funds, without ever taking any sort of decisive action.
SHE HAS ALREADY PLEADED GUILTY TO TAKING BRIBES,INCLUDING A CAR, $5,000 CASH AND BEYONCE TICKETS, AND SHE WANTS HER JOB BACK???
From Arizona newspaper.
Sharon Helman, the former Phoenix VA Health Care System director who was fired in 2014 amid a scandal over patient care, pleaded guilty Tuesday to filing a false financial disclosure that failed to list more than $50,000 in gifts she had received from a lobbyist.
A conviction for that crime carries a maximum prison sentence of five years, but terms of a plea agreement call for Helman to receive probation with no time behind bars.
Helman oversaw the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix from 2012-14, when whistleblowers disclosed to Congress and The Arizona Republic that veterans seeking appointments faced delays of up to a year, and that some had died while on secret wait lists. Subsequent investigations verified that the VA in Phoenix and at hospitals nationwide had “cooked the books,” manipulating wait-time data. The revelations led to the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, as well as nationwide audits, congressional reviews and a $16 billion reform bill.
Neither Helman nor her attorneys could be reached immediately for comment on her plea.
Helman, who denied that patient-scheduling data had been falsified, was fired by the VA over the wait-time issue, for alleged retaliation against whistleblowers, and for failing to report the lobbyist gifts. Her termination on the first two allegations was overturned by a judge with the Merit Systems Protection Board, but the final charge was upheld.
The gifts were provided by Dennis “Max” Lewis, a former Veterans Health Administration administrator who had been Helman’s boss before he became a private consultant.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Helman failed to report $19,300 worth of gifts in 2013, including an automobile, a check for $5,000 and tickets to a Beyonce concert. In 2014, prosecutors said, Helman failed to disclose another $27,700 in perks. That included family tickets to Disneyland.
Helman was not charged with unlawfully accepting the gifts, but failing to provide the VA with required information to evaluate a potential conflict of interest.
Lewis, then vice president at Jefferson Consulting Group, was terminated by his employer when the controversy became public in late 2014. Jefferson represented major health-care companies