Fake paralysis nets man 20 years

A Buchanan County man has been sentenced to 20 years in a federal prison after admitting he spent two years pretending to be paralyzed from the neck down.

Timothy Carl Ling, 31, of Hurley and his parents have been ordered to pay more than $500,000 in restitution, according to a statement released Monday by acting U.S. Attorney Julia Dudley.

Prosecutors said Ling and his mother used his fake quadriplegia to persuade local social-service agencies to aid them financially, even as they cashed Social Security checks and defrauded credit-card companies of nearly $345,000.

They used the money on shopping sprees, vacations, casino gambling and the construction of two homes in Pikeville, Ky.

Ling also bought cars with a total worth of more than $100,000.

“Timothy Carl Ling, and his family, through a series of lies and deceptions, decided to line their own pockets by stealing money and aid from individuals in our community who are truly in need of assistance,” Dudley said.

Ling’s 20-year sentence was for a variety of crimes: He earlier had pleaded guilty to several fraud charges, as well as obstruction of justice, conspiracy to commit tax evasion, money laundering, and identity theft.

According to federal prosecutors, Ling began portraying himself as a quadriplegic in January 2004 to avoid being sent to prison for a probation violation. He had been convicted in Buchanan in 2000 of falsifying a medical prescription.

In U.S. District Court in Abingdon, prosecutors laid out a case showing that from 2004 to 2006, when federal investigators began their probe, Ling received Social Security benefits as a result of his feigned quadriplegia, and he also received Medicaid benefits to pay for numerous medical appointments and trips in ambulances.

A federal investigation revealed the family received money from the Virginia Consumer Services Fund and Clinch Independent Living Services Inc., two agencies that helped the family purchase a specially equipped van and build ramps at their home to accommodate Ling’s fake disability. In all, the agencies spent more than $18,000.

“It is unbelievable that someone could actually do this — I was livid when I found out,” said Betty Bevins, executive director of Clinch Independent Living in Grundy.

Bevins said her agency agreed to build a ramp for Ling in 2005 after representatives visited him at home, where he lay in a hospital bed and showed them Social Security documents categorizing him as a quadriplegic.

“I was very, very pleased with the sentence. If it were up to me, I would have had him live as a quad[riplegic] for the rest of his life.”

Bevins said her agency has removed the ramp it built for Ling, and his wheelchair has been given to a person who needs it. Ling’s mother, Carol Irene Estap, 54, of Hurley, was sentenced to 94 months in prison for her role in the schemes.

His father, Herman Scott Ling, 67, of Hurley, is serving a five-year probation sentence for his involvement.