I’ve begun to look at videos exposing phony veterans and their claims, and this is frankly disturbing - con- men and scam artists I expected, but when politicians lie about their service - even as far as claiming to be SEAL team members - this just goes too far. The ''Stolen Valor" law passed years ago will land you a year in jail if you’re exposed, arrested, and convicted - using bogus, falsified military records, a gang of 8 conmen were able to steal more than a million alone from the VA in one instance. FYI
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YEP! Some out there that walk the walk and talk the talk, but when it’s time to prove, they ain’t $#!T 
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It should be 10-20 years!
I was medically unable to serve but my family, close friends are currently serving or have served.
I did’nt buy my folded flag and I support those that serve and have served.
Just because you play Call of Duty doesn’t meancrap!
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This is to amend my earlier post - the law has been re-written to avoid 1st Amendment violations after a conviction was overturned in the case of a conman using a vet’s record named Duncan. The current law hands out an expanded sentence of up to five years in a federal prison, and a fine of up to $250K. Don Shipley is an ex-SEAL who outs phony SEALS, while a retired FBI agent and Medal of Honor holder goes after these phonies - he says that at every Medal of Honor convention he’s attended, there’s been at least one pretender in the crowd. One of them actually showed up in a wheelchair, was called out, and left - folding up his chair and walking to his van! You can also see videos on phony cops - look for a repeat offender named DeWitte in FL, and another arrested in Cleveland. These videos will make you cringe like you’re watching TO CATCH A PREDATOR. FYI
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Well y’all, of all the things going on nowadays to get a true patriot upset and disgusted, stolen valor whether it be military or law enforcement is the top of the list. I am an 8 year USAF Veteran and 26 year retired law enforcement officer . To think that a person would stoop to the lowest level to lie about a military or law enforcement career for personal gain or just recognition is the ultimate insult. It is not only an insult (actually a kick in the gut) to us but our country as a whole and everything we took an oath to protect and preserve. I agree with Karacal, it should be be 10 to 20 years. But we are dreaming of course. We are existing, yes existing not living, in a country that disrespects the military, and despises and vilifies law enforcement. This is all while turning criminals back onto our streets, ruining our cities, letting violent criminals out of prison and teaching our military woke ideology. Our military leaders are more concerned about pronouns and re-naming our military bases. These base names are recognized and respected world wide by our allies and feared by our enemies. Our enemies are laughing at what we are teaching our military. I know I got off on a tangent, but the more we teach a disregard and disrespect for our military, law enforcement, and our country as a whole, we will see more stolen valor. Because a person that commits an act of stolen valor is out for one thing and one thing only, themself.
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Yeah, they have to draw a line between a kid who dresses up like super-captain-sergeant-major-first-class for Halloween and a guy who pretends to be a wounded veteran so defraud charities. You may not like either one of these, but the first one you can just roll your eyes at and move on. The second is a problem.
I think they should pass a bill as impersonating government agents. It wouldn’t help with fake veterans, but it would give us a tool to use against dudes who strut around in uniforms they bought off Ebay to pick up chicks.
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The original Stolen Valor law made it illegal to claim falsely a veteran status or exploits in the military. As noted above, a court case declared that law a violation of the 1st Amendment. The replacement Stolen Valor law made it illegal to profit from any such false claims. Thus anyone can show up in a uniform they never earned, or claim they served, but not get piad for books or articles, or even solicit donations based on the claim.
As far as claiming to be a “government agent,” there are already plenty of laws on the books and routinely enforced making it illegal to impersonate a law enforcement officer , local, state, or federal. As with the stolen valor videos, there are numerous YouTube videos of fake LEOs being busted.
The best we can do about false claims of service or valor is public shaming, but we can, and do, see fake LEOs arrested and convicted.
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I’m familiar with those laws, and I occasionally see people prosecuted for that. But do we have laws for impersonating other types of government agents? I wouldn’t want a fake IRS or ATF agent, for example (not all of them have law enforcement powers).
Just thinking that an active duty military member is an agent of the federal government. So if someone is pretending to be one, they are misrepresenting the federal government, and that could be a crime within federal jurisdiction (maybe?).
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If i read the IRS and ATF sites correctly, any “agent” or “special agent” of those organizations is a law enforcement officer. The term “agent” is key. Yes, IRS and ATF have other job categories, like auditors, that are not LEO. However, when you say you are an agent you are claiming LEO status.
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That is not how I understood the term “agent,” but I’m not going to challenge you. 
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One of the biggest stolen valor scams - believe it or not - involves a WOMAN from RI - Sarah Cavanaugh - who became a commander of a local VFW chapter, a social worker for the VA, and even publicly solicited donations for her “cancer” treatments. All the particulars are there - bought marine uniforms and medals, stolen and falsified military documents - but the social security number on these documents tripped her up - the number on them was for a MALE, not a female - and she was exposed as a result. The “gang of eight” scam I mentioned earlier - in Seattle, and at a cost of $1.4 million - ranged in age from 23 to 83 - two of them had no military service to begin with. FYI
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P.S. - She was sentenced - in July this year - to 2 years out of the 20 she faced, and was fined $82K out of the more than $200K she managed to steal. FYI
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If you’re from a certain political party, you just have to apologize and then you can get elected to the Senate Like Richard Blumenthal
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If someone is a mental-midget or a nut-case, that’s one situation, but if someone is willing to lie to the extent of gaining some benefit - $$, a job, or a political office - it’s time to call in the “trust-busters” to expose them - what ELSE have they deliberately lied about in the past?
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Last week we had a ComicCon conference here in Salt Lake. As I walked around down town I’d see kids 15-20 wearing military uniforms. I also saw kids wearing GI’s and Black Belts. I know these are costumes but it still hit me as wrong. I am a veteran and a black belt. There are those of us that went to BCT, AIT and on to permanent duty stations. I was in in the late 70’s, no combat just stationed in Europe to stare down the USSR. Comes down to a single thing to me. Be Real!
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The Chief of Naval Operations, the CNO, wore ribbons he wasn’t entitled to. When exposed he went home and killed himself. He already had a chest full of fruit salad, don’t know why he had to add a couple of ribbons for Vietnam when he never was even near enough to qualify.
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Here’s a trivia question - what’s the ONLY medal an officer is NOT entitled to wear?
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Any s/he hasn’t earned.
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It’s kind of nice, though, to think that they place dressing up as military service members along side dressing up as super heroes.
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The answer is the Good Conduct Medal. Every branch - even the new Space Force - has its own version of the medal. Only an officer - with at least 3 years’ enlisted service - is entitled to wear one - a case in point is “Colonel Potter” from M.A.S.H., who earned his as a WWI veteran. The situation usually applies to “mustangs” who become warrant officers, or go for a full commission. FYI
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