![]() |
|
|||||||
![]() |
|
|
LinkBack | Thread Tools | Rate Thread | Display Modes |
|
|
#1 (permalink) |
|
Pocket Ashley's Mom
Military Professional
|
Marine pleads guilty in hero hoax
Faces up to 8 1/2 years in prison for faking injury to get freebies
updated 1 hour, 19 minutes ago QUANTICO, Va. - A Marine Corps sergeant pleaded guilty Wednesday to faking post-traumatic stress disorder and pretending to be an injured hero to get in free to rock concerts and professional sporting events. Sgt. David Budwah pleaded guilty to nine charges, including making false statements, malingering and misconduct at a court-martial hearing on the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Va. Some of the charges may be condensed at his sentencing hearing Wednesday afternoon. Budwah faces up to 8 1/2 years in prison, a reduction in rank and a dishonorable discharge. 'Never deployed' Budwah acknowledged he was never deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, as he claimed. He said he lied about having helped with the 2004 tsunami relief effort and didn't earn eight medals and ribbons he wore on his uniform. "The truth of it is, I was never deployed and I was never injured," Budwah told Navy Capt. Bruce W. MacKenzie, chief judge of the Navy-Marine Corps Trial Judiciary. "Everything that I said was false." Budwah, 34, of Springhill, La., admitted to bluffing his way into 13 events last year, including banquets, rock concerts, a Washington Redskins football game and a Washington Nationals baseball game. He also admitted obtaining under false pretenses a laptop computer and personal digital assistant from Soldiers' Angels, an organization that helps wounded service members. Lied at Legion camp Budwah acknowledged he lied when he told young boys at an American Legion camp in western Maryland in July 2008 that he was wounded in Afghanistan when he dove on a homemade grenade to shield a buddy from the blast. Instead, Budwah was with a radio communications unit in Okinawa, Japan, from early 2000 to early 2006, and then at Quantico, where he worked as a store clerk. He said he was legitimately sent to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., in June 2008 for outpatient treatment for a stomach ailment. Once there, he claimed PTSD in hopes of leaving service before his scheduled September 2009 discharge date. He became an inpatient and began bluffing his way into wounded-warrior events, he said. Well I hope the freebies were worth it cause now he's paying for it! What a JERK!!!!
__________________
“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” ~ Jimi Hendrix "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt |
|
|
|
|
#3 (permalink) | |
|
tankie
Military Professional
|
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
#6 (permalink) |
|
Senior Contributor
|
Sorry Tankie, I meant down the list on this forum. Here 'tis. Fake veteran faces 'stolen valor' charge |
|
|
|
|
#11 (permalink) |
|
Pocket Ashley's Mom
Military Professional
|
I don't think so! Because now that my "disability" is a little more severe, yes, I do believe it was service connected. Plus I used to do the retirement briefings at the Pentagon, and the VA rep always reiterated that you can apply for anything that happened while in the military. And now that I'm on meds, I'll probably apply to see if my rating can be increased. But at least my disability is real, unlike that scum!
|
|
|
|
|
#12 (permalink) | |
|
Military Professional
|
Quote:
|
|
|
|
![]() |
| Share this thread with friends: |
| Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | |
| Thread Tools | |
| Display Modes | Rate This Thread |
|
|
Similar Threads
|
||||
| Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
| Top Ten Air Forces In The World | Commando | Military Aviation | 84 | 06-10-2007 12:08 PM |
| Marine pleads guilty over Iraq death | troung | The War in Iraq | 1 | 10-27-2006 08:38 AM |
| Naval History | rickusn | Naval Forces | 0 | 04-01-2006 14:13 PM |
| End of an era | Anon | Battleships Forum | 71 | 03-30-2006 21:02 PM |
| Defiant Saddam pleads not guilty | Ironduke | The War in Iraq | 8 | 10-22-2005 13:54 PM |