Prosecutor: Veteran embezzled nearly $1M in benefits

WINSTON-SALEM, NC (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a North Carolina Vietnam veteran embezzled nearly $1 million in health care benefits from the government that helped support a lifestyle that included dancing, playing basketball and buying a beach condo.

Federal prosecutors based in Winston-Salem said 73-year-old Willie Dosher Cain of Fayetteville had pleaded guilty in 2020 to one count of embezzlement and was sentenced on Jan. 5 of this year to five years of probation.

United States District Judge Thomas D. Schroeder said that Cain’s age and the COVID-19 pandemic influenced his sentencing decision.