Two VA Employees Facing 15 Years in Prison

Charges filed against two employees of the VA give a new dimension to the term “government red tape.”

According to news reports in local papers, two employees from the VA in Murfreesboro, Tennessee have been charged and arrested with taking kickbacks on the purchase of 100,000 rolls of red tape. The total in kickbacks was more than $100,000 per employee according to the criminal complaint.


The employees were charged with taking bribes in exchange for buying the tape. The red tape to be used by the government normally sold for $2.50 per roll but the tape was purchased by the agency for $6.95 per roll.

One employee charged is the director of the VA’s Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy which mails prescription medicines to veterans. The other employee charged was the assistant director of the program at the time.


Joseph Haymond and Natalie Coker could face up to 15 years in prison.