CFO who stole millions from Virginia Birth Injury Fund appeals ‘harsh’ prison sentence

John Hunter Raines worked for the Virginia Birth Injury Fund before his theft was discovered.

Four months into his 9-year prison sentence, John Hunter Raines is fighting for a chance to get out early.

The disgraced former local CFO, who is serving time in a federal facility for stealing millions of dollars from the Virginia Birth Injury Fund, has made efforts in recent months to have the courts take a “second look at what is a harsh sentence,” he stated in legal documents.

The 39-year-old is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals court to consider reducing his 108-month sentence and has also suggested that he be allowed to serve his time on home confinement.

He’s representing himself in the appeals process and is making his filings from the low-security camp at FCI Petersburg, where he’s been held since March.

Raines worked as CFO and deputy director of VBIF, formally known as the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program, from 2020 until his termination in 2023.

He pleaded guilty, admitting to skimming $6.75 million from the Richmond-based quasi-government agency, which manages a $700 million fund meant to compensate those who suffer neurological injuries at birth.

The New Kent County resident was caught using the money to fund an alcohol and gambling addiction, as well as limo rides, private jet trips and payments to a mistress.

He was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge John Gibney on March 5 and taken into custody on the spot. Raines began to push back on that sentence beginning about a month later.

His first attempt came in late April, when Raines asked Gibney to reduce the sentence, stating that he was “humbly asking for another chance at life.”

In his filings to Gibney, Raines blamed his attorney for ineffective counsel during his criminal case and blamed his addiction to alcohol and gambling for affecting his judgment during his period of theft from the VBIF. Raines also cited his cooperation with authorities, his efforts to get sober prior to his sentencing and his continued rehabilitation work while in prison as reasons for a potential reduced sentence.

He asked Gibney for either an unspecified reduction in his sentence or to serve out the rest of his term in home confinement.

“(Raines) has already paid a substantial price for his malfeasance and no further justice would be served keeping him imprisoned at this stage,” Raines wrote.

Gibney denied the request on June 11. Raines that same day gave notice of his intent to appeal, and formally filed his appeal on June 26.

John Raines is serving his sentence at the low-security Petersburg federal correctional institution. (Courtesy of Federal Bureau of Prisons)

His 22-page appeal hinges on the federal government’s compassionate release statute and states that he received a “disparate sentence.”

“A disproportionately long sentence warrants a sentence reduction,” Raines argued.

Raines describes himself in the appeal filing as a “model inmate.” He says he has not been cited for misconduct and created and leads weekly Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings. He also leads a bible study group and works as a carpenter.

In arguing that Gibney was too heavy handed at sentencing, Raines cites other cases involving what he described as similar charges that received lower sentences ranging from 18 to 84 months.

“Mr. Raines respectfully submits that his 108-month sentence for a nonviolent, first time, white collar crime is extraordinarily severe, or even exceeding, sentences commonly imposed for violent crimes, including murder,” Raines wrote in his appeal.

Gibney, at the March sentencing hearing, emphasized his desire to send a message of deterrence when handing Raines a punishment that was above the federal guideline range of 46-57 months, and higher than the 96 months sought by prosecutors.

“This is certainly a case that calls for deterrence,” Gibney said at the time. “We need to send a message: you cannot steal from agencies of the commonwealth and get away with it. Let the message go out today that you can’t steal from charity. Here in Richmond, in the Eastern District of Virginia, we’re not going to put up with it.”

The VBIF program was created by state legislation and paid for by physicians, hospitals and insurance carriers to provide lifetime care for children who become disabled after suffering brain or spinal cord injuries during the birthing process. It’s meant to avoid malpractice lawsuits related to birth injuries.

The program, according to court records, has roughly 300 active claimants who rely on the fund for therapies, caregiver services, medical bills, medications, counseling and equipment such as wheelchair accessible vans.

“I just cannot get passed the fact that money was taken from a program to benefit the helpless,” Gibney said at sentencing.

Many of those claimants – and their disabled children – were in the courtroom in March. There were also several reporters in the courtroom and Raines’ case was covered heavily by a number of news outlets.

Raines claims in his appeal that those statements from Gibney and the presence of the media caused the judge to lose focus on the “defendant’s unique circumstances.” Raines argues that constituted an abuse of discretion on Gibney’s part and violated Raines’ “constitutional right to individualized sentencing under the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.”

“This statement reveals a sentencing rationale rooted not in Mr. Raines’ personal circumstances or the statutory sentencing framework…but rather in an impermissible desire to ‘send a message’ through media coverage,” Raines said of Gibney’s references to deterrence.

“The invocation of media presence is especially troubling, as it reflects a departure from neutral judicial reasoning and improperly introduces public spectacle as a sentencing factor,” he continued.

The appeals court has yet to set a formal hearing date for Raines’ case, nor have federal prosecutors filed their argument against his appeal.

Raines’ projected release date is October 2032.

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