A Maine man who claimed to be paralyzed for more than a decade and then faked his death pleaded guilty to making false statements.
Gregory Heimann Jr. of Princeton, who had claimed to be paralyzed since 2004, walked into U.S. District Court of Maine in Bangor on Friday morning. He stood without assistance while speaking to the judge. He pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the government and admitted he knowingly lied to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The plea comes more than two decades after he first claimed to be paralyzed. Federal agents knew Heimann could walk since May 2023 but did not issue an arrest warrant until after he faked his death in April 2024.
The VA has paid approximately $244,075 in disability benefits to Heimann since January 2016, according to court documents. He was receiving about $5,000 a month, records said.
Heimann served in the U.S. Army from 1993 to 1997, before serving in the U.S. Army National Guard until 2005. He started submitting disability claims to the VA in 1996, according to court records.
In 2008 he was found to be 100% disabled and paraplegic by the VA. During an examination medical staff had to transfer Heimann from a wheelchair to an exam table because Heimann said he could not support himself with his legs.
A 2023 exam again found him to be wheelchair bound and said he could not lift his legs. But, federal agents followed Heimann to a Danforth hardware store where he walked in without an assistive device, according to court records.
Security camera footage from various businesses show Heimann walking in 2023 and 2024, court records said.
During a Feb. 22, 2024, interview with federal agents Heimann used a wheelchair. He said he’d used one since 2006, records said.
However, during the interview Heimann said his condition began to improve around 2015 but that he was afraid of losing his lifestyle and didn’t want his benefits to change.
About a month and a half after that interview, Heimann gathered his belongings in a canoe and traveled to a river near the Canadian border on April 19, 2024, and disappeared. A large search ensued until Maine game wardens found out Heimann was not dead and ruled his disappearance suspicious.
Heimann remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. He is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date. The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.