John Hunter Raines was sentenced on Wednesday to nine years of federal prison for stealing millions from the Virginia Birth Injury Fund. The former CFO, who claimed to have been his victim, had a courtroom packed with his supporters as well as the families of children with disabilities.
Raines, 39 admitted skimming 6.75 million dollars from the quasi-government Richmond agency that manages a 700 million dollar fund to compensate people who have suffered neurological injuries since birth.
New Kent County resident, who was caught, used the money for alcohol and gambling, limo trips, private jet flights, and payments to his mistress.
The federal government, according to prosecutors, has placed a lien against Raines’ house because the home was bought and mortgaged in part using funds stolen from VBIF. The house is a 3,400 square foot home in Providence Forge, built in a community around Brickshire Golf Club. The house was bought in 2023 at the height Raines’ scheme.
Raines vowed to do his best to repay the money during the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, but attorneys informed Judge John Gibney the funds were gone.
Michael Moore, the attorney for the VBIF said that “as far as we can tell…the money is gone.” The program is also considering filing a lawsuit to access more of Raines’ financial records to find more restitution funding.
Raines attorney William Mann, of the Northern Virginia law firm Simms Showers, said that Raines gambled away his money.
Raines was arrested in August by U.S. Postal Service inspectors. He attended Virginia Tech and earned a master’s degree at Liberty University. Raines also has a CPA certificate. Inspectors of the Postal Service arrested Raines in August last year. He pleaded guilty to a two-count charge of mail fraud, and to engaging in monetary transactions with criminally derived properties.
He was first accused of stealing $4.8million but later admitted that he had stolen a total amount of $6.75million.
Raines served as the CFO and deputy-director of VBIF (formerly known as Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program) from 2020 to his termination in 2023.
State legislation authorizes the program, which is funded by hospitals, physicians and insurance companies to care for disabled children who have suffered brain or spinal injuries during birth. The program is designed to prevent malpractice suits related to birth injury.
According to court records, the program has approximately 300 active claimants. These individuals rely on this fund for therapy, caregiver services and medical bills. They also rely on it for counseling, medication, counseling, and equipment like wheelchair accessible vans.
Some of these claimants attended the hearing on Wednesday. The majority of claimants were wheelchair-bound, and accompanied by parents who see Raines’s crimes directly as a theft from their pockets. The VBIF claims the money stolen would not have been given to families.
Sturgis Kidder disagreed with VBIF’s stance, as his child is a fund participant.
Kidder said to Judge Gibney, “The families have in fact been affected by this.”
He stated that the VBIF changed its internal policies in response to the Raines Case, including how it finances or reimburses claimants. He said that it takes longer for funds to be approved and that some families have to pay more upfront to claim their benefits.
Kidder stated, “Now that the program treats families as if we have stolen the money.”
Dawn McCoy, Executive Director of VBIF, said that the theft has caused concern among staff and other stakeholders about the effectiveness of the program.
McCoy stated that the impact of this crime on the program was far greater than the amount of money stolen by Mr. Raines.
Raines theft is the second time VBIF’s insiders have stolen money in the last 15 years. Iris F. Allen, a former claims manager who was sentenced to 10 years prison in 2010 for orchestrating an even more elaborate scheme of embezzling $744,000.
Mann, when arguing to Gibney to reduce the sentence to 24 months, cited Raines lack of criminal history and his need to provide for his wife and children. Mann stated that Raines showed true remorse, and would work hard to repay the money to VBIF if he were given the opportunity.
Mann stated, “I understand the court believes it will never be paid back because it is too large a sum, but that doesn’t stop him from trying.”
Avi Panth (assistant U.S. attorney) who prosecuted this case said that a harsh penalty would be needed to discourage similar crimes from occurring in the future.
“Raines stole hundreds of times in 21 months to live a high-class lifestyle,” Panth said. The money is a real cost to the victims. The only justice that the families can receive is a serious sentence.
Raines took the podium, wearing a new faded haircut, a navy blue suit, a white shirt, and a navy tie.
He said: “I come to you with gratitude, remorse and humility, but also full of hope.” At times, he took a break so as not get choked up.
He apologized for not facing the families, but he did start to look back at them.
He attempted to explain his crimes by claiming that his gambling and alcohol addictions were a strong influence on him.
This didn’t begin with large amounts of money. He said that it started small and snowballed.
Raines stated that he wanted to break the cycle of theft.
“I remember sitting in my car nearly every day saying, “Lord, please stop me doing this.” He also said that he had sat with a.38-Special next to him, alluding thoughts of suicide.
Raines begged Gibney to show him mercy and allow him to continue on his journey to sobriety by attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, as well as working to pay back his restitution.
He said, “Through sobriety, I know that I can repay this money.”
Judge Gibney stated that he wanted to use the case of Raines to send a clear message to other judges to help prevent future crimes.
Gibney stated that “this is a case which calls for deterrence.” “He treated it as if it were a giant ATM and spent the money on extravagant spending.
Gibney stated, “We must send out a clear message that you can’t steal from Commonwealth agencies and get away with doing it.” Let the message be sent today that it is not acceptable to steal from charities. We won’t tolerate it in Richmond or the Eastern District in Virginia.
Raines remained erect and upright as Gibney delivered the 108-month term, bending his head briefly. Raines’s wife wept as she rocked their newborn child while the judge explained why he denied the request for more lenient sentences.
Gibney stated, “I cannot ignore the fact that the money taken from the program was meant to help the poor.”
Raines was taken immediately into custody by the U.S. The Marshals took Raines away from his family without allowing him to say goodbye in court. As he was being led away, he could only turn to look at his wife.
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