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By Zak Failla From Daily Voice

A Virginia couple is accused of draining a Navy veteran’s bank account, forging his VA checks, and leaving him in dangerous, filthy conditions — prosecutors say the victim was found confused, injured, and covered in urine and feces.

The pai,r who were entrusted with caring for a Navy and Vietnam War veteran, instead exploited him for tens of thousands of dollars while letting his health deteriorate, federal prosecutors said.

A grand jury indicted Melissa Diana Simmons, 50, and James Patrick Brown, 59, of Franklin County, on 30 federal counts, including bank fraud, access device fraud, forging Treasury checks, and aggravated identity theft, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia.

Prosecutors said Simmons first met the 75-year-old veteran in May 2022 “when she was assigned as his in-home care provider.”

By December 2022, the victim began making “significantly more” withdrawals than normal, often through checks written to Simmons and her boyfriend, Brown, according to the indictment.

In June 2023, Simmons was fired from her job. Prosecutors said she then convinced the victim — against company policy — to move into the couple’s home in Boones Mill.

By July 2023, bank staff noticed Simmons and Brown repeatedly bringing the veteran through the drive-through for “frequent and increasingly large withdrawals,” and watched his condition shift from “upbeat” to “hunched over, confused, and fearful,” prosecutors said.

In mid-August 2023, Simmons had the veteran add her to his account. Within 30 days, he lost roughly $30,000 from “continual, large withdrawals,” officials said.

The situation came to a head in mid-September 2023, when bank staff ordered Simmons inside during another large withdrawal. Inside, they saw the veteran’s “nose was burned from smoking while using his oxygen tank,” and he “reeked of urine and feces.”

He couldn’t remember when he last bathed, eaten, or visited the VA Medical Center. 

Staff persuaded him to open a new account without Simmons. As they questioned him, Simmons “grew belligerent,” hitting a window, barging in, and shouting until police arrived, prosecutors said.

Days later, Brown returned, demanding information on how to get the veteran’s VA and Social Security checks into the account and trying to withdraw “between $60,000 and $70,000.” 

Staff said the veteran looked even worse and still carried “an overwhelming stench of urine and feces" again.

Adult Protective Services opened a case soon after. A mental exam showed the veteran was suffering from dementia, according to the indictment.

On Nov. 18, 2023, Simmons and Brown told Roanoke County Fire and Rescue the victim was unresponsive. 

He was hospitalized with acute respiratory failure and critically low oxygen levels. Medical records showed methamphetamine in his system, though he had no history of drug use or ability to obtain it, prosecutors said.

While the veteran was in the hospital and later rehab, Simmons continued receiving his VA benefits checks — four of them, totaling nearly $8,000 — and “forged the victim’s signatures” before depositing them, officials said.

Prosecutors said Simmons and Brown then used his debit card for personal spending, including thousands at a casino.

In May 2024, deputies questioned the pair about the veteran’s vehicles left at their home. 

Brown reportedly said he “thought the victim was dead,” and told investigators he believed he deserved a storage fee. The victim’s family recovered both vehicles, uninsured, in poor condition, and with expired registration.

During an interview with VA OIG agents in October 2024, prosecutors said Simmons admitted she forged the checks and that she and Brown spent the victim’s money while he was hospitalized.

Both defendants now face decades in federal prison if convicted.