ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – A Boones Mill woman pleaded guilty to stealing money from a Vietnam War veteran she was tasked with caring for, First Assistant United States Attorney Robert N. Tracci announced on Tuesday.
Prosecutors say 50-year-old Melissa Diana Simmons pleaded guilty to forgery of government checks; she and co-defendant James Patrick Brown were indicted in 2025.
Court documents and other evidence say Simmons met the victim in May 2022, when she was assigned as his in-home caretaker, pursuant to a contract between her employer and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Around December 2022, it was shown the victim began taking out large amounts of money from his bank account than normal, even through checks made out to Simmons and her boyfriend, Brown…