West Virginia man who helped his wife fake her death is jailed

A West Virginia man who tried to help his wife fake her death by telling police she had fallen over a cliff so she could avoid healthcare fraud charges has been sentenced to to eight months in prison. 

Rodney Wheeler was sentenced on Monday after pleading guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice.  

Wheeler and his wife Julie Wheeler had come up with the elaborate plan to fake her death in order to keep her out of prison for healthcare fraud. 

He had called 911 back on May 31 last year to report that his wife had fallen from a steep overlook at the New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia while she was supposedly looking for her earing. 

Rodney Wheeler was sentenced on Monday after pleading guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice after helping his wife Julie fake her own death in May last year

His call sparked a massive two-day search and rescue mission for the mother-of-two that involved hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement. 

Police later found Julie hiding in her home. 

During the search, rescue personnel had found a shoe and cell phone that belonged to Julie at the base of the overlook.  

Wheeler repeatedly also gave false statements to state and federal investigators while the search was underway. 

He also kept their lie going on social media with posts about the ongoing search.

‘I have been getting a lot of private messages so I feel it best that I address this… the accident at Grandview yesterday involved my wife,’ he wrote in a Facebook post the evening June 1, 2020.

Rodney had called 911 back on May 31 last year to report that his wife had fallen from a steep overlook at the New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia. His call sparked a massive two-day search and rescue mission for the mother-of-two (pictured above)

Wheeler repeatedly gave false statements to state and federal investigators while the search was underway. He also kept their lie going on social media with posts (above) about the ongoing search

‘They haven’t found her yet but I am holding out hope that she will be found and she is ok… I am heartbroken and lost right now but I have to keep the faith… please give us time to work through this and please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.’

Julie was found two days later hiding in a closet at her home. 

Authorities said the Wheelers had been planning to go into hiding together. 

Prosecutors said the Wheelers hatched the plan so she could avoid federal sentencing in a health care fraud case related to overbilling. 

She was sentenced to three years and six months for fraud related to the health care fraud after she admitted to submitting fraudulent applications to the VA Spina Bifida Health Care Benefits Program where she overbilled for providing spina bifida care for a family member. 

In addition to that prison sentence, Julie was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $289,000 for the overbilling scheme. 

She also received an addition year in prison for conspiring to obstruct justice related to the fake death plan.  

Police later found Julie hiding in a closet at her home two days later. Prosecutors said the Wheelers hatched the plan so she could avoid federal sentencing in a health care fraud case related to overbilling