http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-investigations/2016/03/01/sharon-helman-ex-phoenix-va-hospital-director-pleads-guilty/81172974/

Sharon Helman, the former Phoenix VA Health Care System director who was fired in 2014 amid a scandal over patient care, pleaded guilty Tuesday to filing a false financial disclosure that failed to list more than $50,000 in gifts she had received from a lobbyist.

A conviction for that crime carries a maximum prison sentence of five years, but terms of a plea agreement call for Helman to receive probation with no time behind bars.

Helman oversaw the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix from 2012-14, when whistleblowers disclosed to Congress and The Arizona Republic that veterans seeking appointments faced delays of up to a year, and that some had died while on secret wait lists. Subsequent investigations verified that the VA in Phoenix and at hospitals nationwide had “cooked the books,” manipulating wait-time data. The revelations led to the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, as well as nationwide audits, congressional reviews and a $16 billion reform bill.

Neither Helman nor her attorneys could be reached immediately for comment on her plea.

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Helman, who denied that patient-scheduling data had been falsified, was fired by the VA over the wait-time issue, for alleged retaliation against whistleblowers, and forfailing to report the lobbyist gifts. Her termination on the first two allegations was overturned by a judge with the Merit Systems Protection Board, but the final charge was upheld.

The gifts were provided by Dennis “Max” Lewis, a former Veterans Health Administration administrator who had been Helman’s boss before he became a private consultant.

According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Helman failed to report $19,300 worth of gifts in 2013, including an automobile, a check for $5,000 and tickets to a Beyonce concert. In 2014, prosecutors said, Helman failed to disclose another $27,700 in perks. That included family tickets to Disneyland.