Wilson v. Gibson, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 10707

Wilson, a Navy veteran with a 70% service-connected disability, was incarcerated for felony convictions beginning October 19, 2001.
Because of incarceration exceeding sixty days, § 5313(a)(1) required his compensation be reduced to the 10% level, effective the sixty-first day of incarceration.
The VA informed Wilson on February 26, 2002 that his compensation would be reduced to 10% back to December 20, 2001, and sought an overpayment of $15,464.50.
Wilson sought a waiver of the overpayment, which the RO Committee on Waivers denied; he also challenged a denial of TDIU in 2012.
The Board denied waiver again; the Veterans Court later remanded on a waiver issue but did not disturb the TDIU denial.
The Federal Circuit held that 38 U.S.C. § 5313(a)(1) begins reduction on the sixty-first day of incarceration regardless of final conviction and affirmed in part, dismissed in part.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Validity of the overpayment debt	Wilson contends debt invalid because reduction not final until conviction final.	Secretary argues debt valid under § 5313(a)(1) regardless of final conviction.	Debt valid; statute begins at incarceration.
Waiver denial under 38 C.F.R. § 1.965 factors	Wilson asserts waiver should be granted based on undue hardship and equity.	Board properly applied factors; reweighing facts is outside our jurisdiction.	Waiver denial affirmed; no jurisdiction to reweigh facts.
TDIU entitlement	Wilson argues for TDIU due to service-connected disabilities.	TDIU claim dismissed on remand; evidence ties unemployment to incarceration, not disability.	TDIU claim dismissed for lack of jurisdiction; no review on appeal.

Guillory v. Shinseki, 669 F.3d 1314 (Fed. Cir. 2012) (discussed finality and jurisdictional limits in Veterans benefits cases)