Prison ordered for Blue Springs man in fraud involving programs for disabled veterans

A Blue Springs man who schemed to fraudulently obtain millions of dollars in government contracts was sentenced Thursday to four years and three months in prison.

Michael J. Parker co-owned a construction business that used false claims to win more than $7.4 million worth of government contracts for work set aside for businesses owned by disabled military veterans.

Parker, 41, and his father, Warren K. Parker, owned Silver Star Construction and won contracts from the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense under the program. But federal agents later learned that Warren Parker never was classified as a service-disabled veteran, as the men had claimed.

Michael Parker was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., where he previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud against the government, major program fraud and wire fraud.

Warren Parker was previously sentenced to seven years and three months in prison.

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 1:47 PM with the headline "Prison ordered for Blue Springs man in fraud involving programs for disabled veterans."