A U.S. Army veteran who feigned paralysis and made false statements to collect more than $767,000 in benefits that he was not entitled to receive will be spared time in federal prison, a judge ruled on Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Brendan A. Hurson sentenced William Rich to three years’ supervised release on five counts of wire fraud and one count of theft of government property. He must also pay restitution and perform 300 hours of community service.

For the first year of his sentence, Rich, 44, of Windsor Mill, will not be allowed to leave his home — except for medical appointments, court appearances and attorney visits. Then, for the next six months, he will have a curfew.

As he handed down the sentence, Hurson remarked that he had wrestled with the case since the trial. The crime, he said, called out for punishment.

But Hurson said he was struck by how Rich was born to a teen mother, experienced homelessness and grew up in a rough neighborhood in Baltimore. Yet while his country at that point had not given a lot to him, he decided to enlist in the military — and paid a price.

Rich had a hole blown through him during an attack, Hurson said. And that “horrific, life-altering journey” eventually led to the crime.

“Make no mistake — this was an egregious fraud,” said Hurson, who added that he believed the fact that Rich is now a “diminished star” in the community was also a punishment.

But, the judge added, “There’s a lot more to your life than what you did.”

Rich served in the Army from 1998-2007. He was hurt on Aug. 23, 2005, in Baqubah, Iraq, in a suicide bombing.

As early as 2006, Rich was able to walk and go about his daily life with little help. Though he was entitled to receive disability compensation, Rich did not report that his condition had improved.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General launched the investigation in 2018 as part of an effort to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Rich was not supposed to receive extra money that’s reserved for those who permanently lose the use of their legs.

Rich told the VA during a recorded phone call in 2021 that he could not walk, and he showed up to two appointments in a wheelchair.

Investigators recorded videos or obtained surveillance footage that showed him walking around without any help outside his home, going up to a food truck and strolling through the mall.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kertisha Dixon and Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen McGuinn asked for a sentence of almost 3 1/2 years in prison, plus three years’ supervised release.

Dixon described the crime as egregious. Rich, she said, was willfully deceptive at medical appointments for determining his benefits.

“This was not a passive fraud,” Dixon said. “It’s just a flagrant, callous disregard of the law.”

At one point, Hurson questioned why it took the government so long to uncover the fraud. Rich admitted to a doctor in 2009 that his condition had improved, but that he feared reporting that information and losing benefits.

Though Hurson noted that Dixon did not work for the VA, he asked, “How in the world does this happen?”

Meanwhile, Gerald Ruter, Rich’s attorney, asked the judge to spare his client from prison.

A jury, he said, came back with a guilty verdict. “But unfortunately,” Ruter said, “the VA made theft as easy as taking candy from a baby.”

Ruter called a trio of character witnesses, including his client’s mother, Charisse Gordon, who described him as a good man, loving father and leader of the family. They pleaded with the judge for mercy.

Rich also briefly addressed the court. “The only thing that I ask is for your leniency,” he said.

Hurson told more than a dozen loved ones in the courtroom gallery in the Edward A. Garmatz U.S. Courthouse that they will be able to visit Rich during his sentence.

But they will have to do it at his home.