70-year-old Blue Springs woman is sentenced to prison for defrauding VA

A 70-year-old Blue Springs woman convicted of defrauding the Department of Veterans Affairs to get millions of dollars in contracts for her family’s construction company was sentenced Tuesday to 20 months in federal prison, according to prosecutors.

Mary Parker had pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting wire fraud after admitting she helped her husband and her son make false claims so their construction company could get contracts meant for businesses owned by service-disabled veterans, according to court documents.

The company, Silver Star Construction LLC of Blue Springs and Stilwell, obtained more than $6.7 million in contracts from Veterans Affairs under the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program.

A federal investigation determined that Parker’s husband, Warren K. Parker, never was classified as a service-disabled veteran by Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense, as the family had claimed.

Warren Parker was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison.

Mary Parker was ordered to pay $30,000 in addition to the prison sentence.

Ian Cummings, icummings@kcstar.com

This story was originally published October 20, 2015 at 5:37 PM with the headline "70-year-old Blue Springs woman is sentenced to prison for defrauding VA."