Link

Personally I think she got off easy......

Rhode Island woman who faked being a cancer-stricken Marine veteran and raked in more than $250K from well-wishers is sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to scam

A con artist who raked in more than $250,000 worth of donations after lying about being a cancer-stricken Marine Corps veteran has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison.

Sarah Jane Cavanaugh claimed to have served in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2009 until 2016 during which time she developed lung cancer due to her exposure to burn pits.

She was so committed to her act she wore medals she had bought online, attended veterans' events and even asked peers at the gym to tie her shoelaces as she claimed war-related injuries to her fingers left her unable to tie them herself.

On Tuesday she was jailed for six years and ordered to repay all of the money after pleading guilty to aggravated identity theft, forged military discharge certificates, fraudulent use of military medals and four counts of wire fraud.

Veterans' groups welcomed the sentencing as they accused the 32-year-old of exploiting the 'kindness and respect shown to our nation's deserving veterans.'

Here she is:

Does the prison have a "boot camp" option. If so send her lying ass to it and have her daily crawl through mud, get 6 hours of sleep for three months run 5 miles a day and told "drop and give me 20 pushups" every 20 minutes. One give-away is having the stripes of an E-6. Not with her young face could she have made that much rank unless she was proving a lot of extra benefits to the battalion commander.

quote:

Originally posted by abnmacv:
Does the prison have a "boot camp" option. If so send her lying ass to it and have her daily crawl through mud, get 6 hours of sleep for three months run 5 miles a day and told "drop and give me 20 pushups" every 20 minutes. One give-away is having the stripes of an E-6. Not with her young face could she have made that much rank unless she was proving a lot of extra benefits to the battalion commander.

And yet, IIRC, she was a post commander at a VFW (or Legion).

VFW. She used a doctored DD214 from a real Vet to join.

Angry Cops has been on her shit for a bit. I hope to see his update in the next few days.

She worked at the VA. She was able to access Veterans files to obtain the documents she needed to forged so she could apply for benefits.

I hate ALL thieves but cretins who steal monies designated for needy veterans are the lowest of low. My degree of contempt for this bitch is unbounded.

So staff sergeant Bint, while trying to chisel a fortune from people who have an inclination to help the wounded or injured shows up at an official function (from the Purple Heart flag behind her) with the Eagle Globe and Anchor on her lapels bass-akwards.

I'll bet even her mother hates her.

quote:

Originally posted by navyshooter:
VFW. She used a doctored DD214 from a real Vet to join.

I figured the VFW would vet applicants. It's easy enough to do, right?

^Unfortunately, it's not hard to slip by with a few forged documents. You can just go on the internet and order a totally bogus DD-214 filled with anything your imagination desires.

One guy got into the VFW by falsely claiming to be a Viet Nam era Navy SEAL with a cobbled letter from an admiral. Was not a SEAL and was never in an actual conflict, therefore not qualified to be a Veteran of Foreign Wars.

American Legion same story, unfortunately. A guy was president of a Legion post, but had only served a little over a year in the Navy and was not honorably discharged. Not qualified to even be in the Legion, much less president of a chapter.

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:

never in an actual conflict, therefore not qualified to be a Veteran of Foreign Wars.

I was peace-time Navy, served during the lull between Korea and Viet Nam. So I was not in during any war, and the most "foreign" in my service time was a couple years at NAS Roosevelt Roads in Puerto Rico, U.S. territory.

I was kind of surprised to receive a completely unsolicited certificate in the mail, recognizing me as a "new member of the VFW." No idea where they got my name, address, etc.

All you need is an Expeditionary Medal. I was eligible to join after receiving an Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for participating in Operation Earnest Will missions in the 80's

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
I was kind of surprised to receive a completely unsolicited certificate in the mail, recognizing me as a "new member of the VFW." No idea where they got my name, address, etc.

That's my fault. I tried signing you up for spam, not SPAM, and I guess it somehow ended up at the VFW.

Actually, I don't believe I have ever been in one, or an American Legion or whatever that's called. I'm eligible, though.

I simply don’t understand stolen valor. Beyond the fact that you are an asshole, you are going to get caught. It’s not like there is some huge upside gain from this. It’s gotta be a mental issue.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:

never in an actual conflict, therefore not qualified to be a Veteran of Foreign Wars.

I was peace-time Navy, served during the lull between Korea and Viet Nam. So I was not in during any war, and the most "foreign" in my service time was a couple years at NAS Roosevelt Roads in Puerto Rico, U.S. territory.

I was kind of surprised to receive a completely unsolicited certificate in the mail, recognizing me as a "new member of the VFW." No idea where they got my name, address, etc.

That supports my comments. Obviously there's not a lot of backround checking to get in.

Unfortunately, those she victimized will probably never get a cent of the money she's supposed to return. In most of these cases, the offender doesn't have any assets to liquidate and they'll claim they're incapable of paying off their debt to those they stole from. We don't have "debtors' prisons" and the courts rarely do anything to insure these conditions of probation (which end when probation is terminated) are actually enforced. Attachment of wages is a civil action that must be done by those she stole from.