Inmate Serving Life for Murder Pleads Guilty to Stealing $354,813.98 in Veterans Benefits
Zachary Hess Dawson, 39, an inmate at Mount Olive Correctional Complex, admitted to fraudulently obtaining VA benefits by falsely claiming PTSD from Army service.
2 reports on this incident · first at Sep 2, 2026, 5:22 p.m. ET
Earlier reports
Sep 2, 2026, 5:22 p.m. ETFirst report
Inmate Serving Life for Murder Pleads Guilty to Stealing $354,813.98 in Veterans Benefits
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Zachary Hess Dawson, 39, an inmate at the Mount Olive Correctional Complex, pleaded guilty on September 2, 2026, to theft of public money, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Dawson admitted that he fraudulently obtained $354,813.98 in U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs benefits by falsely claiming he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from his U.S. Army service in Afghanistan during the summer of 2009. He received the recurring benefits from on or about January 12, 2017, to on or about September 30, 2025.
Dawson is scheduled to be sentenced on January 7, 2027, and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. He also owes $354,813.98 in restitution. In November 2024, Dawson received a life sentence without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in Greenbrier County Circuit Court in the fatal Thanksgiving 2022 beating of his wife in Alderson.
U.S. Attorney Moore Capito announced the plea and commended the investigative work of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs-Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG). U.S. District Judge Irene C. Berger presided over the hearing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Hanks is prosecuting the case. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of West Virginia and the National Fraud Enforcement Division, which was created on April 7, 2026, to investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars.
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- Version 12 Sept 2026, 21:22current
First published.
- Version 12 Sept 2026, 21:22current
First published.
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