Geneseo is in west central IL, just east of Rock Island (and home of Armalite and Springfield Armory).

The article does not say what unit the guy was in, it may have been 182AW in Peoria, where I served 1995-2007.

http://qctimes.com/news/local/...d4-b6ccab04d037.html

Geneseo man sentenced to prison in Stolen Valor case

A Geneseo, Illinois, man was sentenced Wednesday to eight months in federal prison for theft of government funds and making false statements about his military service to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

William R. Jones, 68, also was ordered to pay a fine of $40,000 and pay restitution in the amount of $71,472 to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

He also was ordered to serve three years of supervised release once he completes his prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Jones pleaded guilty to the charges Aug. 22 in U.S. District Court, Rock Island.

According to prosecutors:

He joined the Air National Guard in 1971 and served in various Reserve or National guard components and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2002.

At no time did Jones ever serve in the Southeast Asia or Republic of Vietnam (RVN) theater of combat operations, or in any other theater of combat operations.

In 2003, he sought disability benefits based on claims to the VA that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder related to combat service in the RVN.

Jones falsely claimed that he had been a Special Operations air crewman on an AC-130 Spectre gunship and was shot down and wounded.

He claimed that he had been awarded a Bronze Star Medal with "V" for Valor and a Purple Heart for RVN service. The VA denied the claims after checking Jones’ military service records and determining that he was never in RVN.

Jones continued to press for claims for disability based on combat service and submitted a false DD-214 to the VA and caused the American Legion and public officials to petition or write the VA in support of him.

As a result of his false representations, he received $71,472 from the VA for combat-related disability.

On Oct. 31, 2013, Jones caused the American Legion to submit to the VA on his behalf a new claim with supporting documents that included a copy of an article from a newspaper in Geneseo.

The article was based on false information provided by Jones about his purported combat service and included copies of several false certificates for combat awards, a false certificate from MACV SOG (Vietnam Special Operations Group) attesting to Jones’s purported SOG service, a false certificate representing that “Staff Sergeant Jones” had received an Enlisted Aircrew badge in November 1971, and a letter dated 2008 from then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama stating that Jones was a RVN veteran.

On July 16, 2013, Jones submitted to the office of U.S. Senator Richard Durbin a “Privacy Act Release” form that contained false information indicating that Jones had served in combat in Vietnam in 1972, was assigned to Special Operations in Vietnam, and that he was shot down in enemy territory but rescued by U.S. Marines three weeks later.

As a result of these false statements to Durbin, the Senator conveyed the false statements to the VA in support of his claim for disability benefit, according to prosecutors.

That was hard to read and follow. He joined the guard, retired an O-5, and then claimed to be an E-6 who served in combat to obtain more benefits than an O-5??

Bizarre.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
That was hard to read and follow. He joined the guard, retired an O-5, and then claimed to be an E-6 who served in combat to obtain more benefits than an O-5??

Bizarre.

He was not getting any benefits (just PX privileges) in 2003 when he filed the first false claim. On a typical reserve component retirement (like mine), you do not get the pension and TriCare until you turn 60.

If he's 68 now he was probably born in 1949, meaning his ANG pension would not have kicked in until 2009. He WAS collecting that in 2013 when he filed the second claim. Dumbass.

I’m always amazed that some people will continue to press such fraudulent claims about the type of military service that’s so easy to confirm or refute.

It may be worth noting that you can claim anything you want, wear medals, patches, etc. First Amendment and all that. But you can’t cheat the government. That is very bad.

Another government leech trying to jump on the VA benefit bandwagon.

Why do they always claim to the "Special Ops"? Do they think this makes it easier to explain why there is no record of their service?

quote:

Originally posted by bigwagon:
Why do they always claim to the "Special Ops"? Do they think this makes it easier to explain why there is no record of their service?

Yep.

"I was a top secret operative somewhere I can't tell you. It isn't on my DD 214 so you will have to take my word for it".