Berkeley County Man Sentenced Stealing $250,000 From Elderly Father
Wednesday, January 15, 2025, 7:15 A.M. ET. 1 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
MARTINSBURG, W.VA.- On Tuesday, January 14, 2025, Joseph Beach, 55, of Inwood, West Virginia, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Gina M. Groh to 41 months in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining over a quarter of a million dollars from his elderly father.
Beach had previously appeared in U.S. District Court in March 2024 and pleaded guilty to one count of Wire Fraud. During Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, Judge Groh, in addition to the federal prison sentence, ordered Beach, upon release from prison, to serve three years of supervised release and pay $253,876.12 in restitution.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Eleanor Hurney and documents filed with the District Court, Beach was the fiduciary for his elderly father, who is under the care of a veterans’ facility and receives monthly benefits. As the fiduciary, Beach received his father’s veterans’ disability, retirement, and social security payments but diverted the funds and used them for his own personal benefit. The total amount of the theft was $253,876.12.
The Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General and the Social Security Administration investigated the case.
