A Maine man who allegedly pretended he was paralyzed for more than a decade to get federal veterans benefits faked his own drowning just weeks after he learned he was being investigated, according to court records.

Gregory Heimann, 51, was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service in Missouri on Aug. 21, ending his run from federal law enforcement more than a year after his disappearance in April 2024 triggered a major search in eastern Maine.

Heimann, who lives in Princeton, was charged with making false statements to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He convinced doctors that he had been injured during his time in the Army in the 1990s as part of a yearslong effort to convince doctors he could not walk, according to an affidavit filed in support of his arrest that lays out an ela

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