Fair would be for him to have to spend a year in Iraq or Afghanistan. But that wouldn´t be fair to the soldiers that are over there to have to deal with him.

Darn. When I saw the headline I was hoping it was Jon Carry.

Just one year??!!

I can think of several members of Congress in the recent past who should be sentenced like this guy. One is currently from Connecticut if I remember correctly.

The judge was wrong to give this guy ANY slack, his claims of injuries should have dismissed his claims right off. Who were the medics that took his x-rays? Falsification of an official document, ´his´ DD-214 for one, Why did he not get a stiffer sentence for his ´Stolen Valor´ law breaking claims for decorations not earned? He claimed a Distinguished Flying Cross, a Bronze Star, TWO Purple Hearts, an Air Medal...these should have gotten him a few years at least by themselves, he got money benefits out of it. His sentence should be reviewed and adjusted accordingly. He´s only sorry he got caught! Piece of dung!!! All phony ´veterans´ should get the MAX!... Viet Nam Veteran and proud of my service...

Did some research on this subject, and according to just a cursory scan of various stories on the Web there are uncounted numbers, perhaps many thousands of such wunnabees--either greatly inflating their military records, or fabricating an entire military record out of whole cloth--running around and getting a hero´s welcome, and all sorts of praise and benefits--going to the head of the line, being honored, profiled in newspapers, given special deals on mortgages, lecturing to school and other audiences, and often very attractive to women--based on their supposed heroic military service.

To take just one glaring example, there have been many more people claiming to be Medal of Honor Winners than the total number of such medals awarded.

Unfortunately, the legal penalties for such shameless deception and fraud are very light, and prosecution very rare.

NOt sure I can tell a differnce between this guys claims and Biden´s.

I thought Senator/Sec of State "Stolen Valor" Kerry had helped change the law so phonies like 3 Purple Hearts and a silver star with V for valor Kerry could not be prosecuted. It seems like the cream and other things just rise to the top.

Hmmm. I thought that the SC said last year that it was not a crime to impersonate somene else, and specifically, claiming to be a war hero?

P.S.--The Stolen Valor Act--toothless though it was--was nonetheless struck down last year by the U.S. Supreme Court.

According to the articles on the Web that I looked at, these fake "heroes" are found in all levels of society, some of these fraudsters hold important positions, and the authorities are usually reluctant to prosecute them, viewing this particular kind of fraud as being of little importance, and/or such a prosecution of an important person in the community to be stirring up just too much trouble.

So, it looks like unless a courageous prosecutor can get one of these impostors for actually scamming someone out of something of real value--in this case cash payments from the VA--their chances of being prosecuted are slim to none.

I knew a guy like this in my career field. I am retired military. He claimed he was a former SEAL, some kind of Kung Fu expert, had written THOUSANDS of articles, 27 books, etc.

All this was posted next to his picture when he was VP at a large telecomm company - right on the company website - and almost all of it was a pile of lies. I have written ONE book in my career field, write a monthly column, etc., so I looked like a slacker compared to his accomploishments. That said, all my peers and colleagues knew this guy was a fraud.

Not sure how these guys always seem to get by for years without passing the smell test. Their lies just get more outrageous as time goes by. It´s a sickness.

The guy I knew died young and left behind a wife and child at home, so I can´t hate on him any more, but he seemingly got away with selling this BeeEss for years.

Finally John Kerry goes to prison!