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SUSPECT GOT VA CARE WHILE ON THE LAM IN FEDERAL

DRUG CASE -- He spent three months undergoing treatment for

addiction and mental health woes at a VA hospital in Kentucky.

 

 

Story here... http://www.knoxnews.
com/news/2007/jul/10/suspect-
got-va-care-while-on-lam/

Story below:

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Suspect got VA care while on lam

By Jamie Satterfield

While Pierce L. Gross was on the lam in a federal drug case, he received taxpayer-funded treatment at a federal Veterans Administration facility.

Gross had been a federal fugitive since 1999, when he failed to show up for trial in U.S. District Court on charges he was selling crack cocaine in the Western Heights housing project and going armed while he did it.

He was finally captured in Knoxville this year after a fender bender.

But court records and statements made at a hearing Monday indicate there were at least a couple of opportunities for the 32-year-old’s fugitive status to have been exposed.

Gross told Senior U.S. District Judge Leon Jordan he spent three months undergoing treatment for addiction and mental health woes at a VA hospital in Kentucky.

“I just left,” Gross said when asked if he was released from that program.

He apparently entered the program using his real name.

It’s not clear why his status as a fugitive was not exposed or why he remained eligible for VA benefits.

Gross also was arrested in Detroit, Mich., while still a fugitive.

Assistant Federal Defender Kim Tollison said Gross gave Detroit authorities a fake name, but a fingerprint check should have revealed his true identity.

Instead, he was allowed to post bond. He skipped out of town before that case was tried, too.

Now that he’s back behind bars, Gross told Jordan he was ready to plead guilty to both his 1999 case and the failure to appear charge added when he fled town.

“There’s no plea agreement in this case,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Weddle told the judge.

Gross faces a minimum 10-year prison term.

Jordan will decide his fate at a sentencing hearing Nov. 7.

Weddle said Knoxville Police Department officers discovered crack and a gun in Gross’ jacket pocket after they noticed him walking around the housing project sporting a bulletproof vest.

“The defendant admitted to the officers that the gun and the drugs were his,” Weddle said. “He (told the officers that) he was addicted to crack cocaine and he had been selling crack cocaine to pay his bills and his child support.”

Jamie Satterfield may be reached at 865-342-6308.

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Larry Scott  --