West Virginia Attorneys Charged With Wire Fraud

{West Virginia}...U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin announced Monday that Jeremy Vickers, 36, of Point Pleasant, and Christopher Bledsoe, 33, of Pineville, two attorneys in West Virginia have been charged with wire fraud in separate, but similar, cases. Vickers was charged for submitting fraudulent bills to a third-party vendor that was reimbursed by the West Virginia Public Defender Service for work he performed in state criminal matters. Bledsoe allegedly forged a local circuit court judge’s signature on payment vouchers and other court documents so he could submit false invoices to a third-party vendor who was reimbursed by the West Virginia Public Defender Service. The charges claim Vickers billed more than 24 hours for one day’s work on 173 occasions. Vickers and Bledsoe have agreed to plead guilty to the charges.