Posted on 05/24/2017 7:00:12 AM PDT by Red Badger
A 68-year-old Wisconsin man who falsely claimed to be a Navy SEAL wounded four times in Vietnam has been sentenced to four years in prison for theft and faking paperwork.
U.S. prosecutors say Kenneth E. Jozwiak produced fake discharge paperwork in 2014 to get U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs pension benefits intended for low-income wartime veterans.
In 2014, Jozwiak submitted a discharge certificate that claimed he served as a Navy SEAL from 1965 to 1968 and was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
All -- including the four Purple Hearts for combat injuries — were totally false, according to the U.S. Attorney's office for the northern district of Ohio.
Jozwiak pleaded guilty and was sentenced late last week to more than four years in prison, the U.S Attorney’s office said.
Jozwiak’s federal public defender didn’t immediately return a call for comment Tuesday.
His real military service was one year of a four-year enlistment from 1967 to 1968. He was never stationed overseas.
Afterward, Jozwiak embarked on a life as a serial grifter, according to a description of his criminal record.
“To say he had a lengthy criminal record is an understatement,” Assistant U.S. Attorney David Toepfer told the Union-Tribune.
“He has a criminal record dating back to 1975. He's been arrested over 120 times in multiple states,” Toepfer said, adding that Jozwiak has had “literally dozens and dozens” of theft-related convictions.
What makes the Wisconsin man's case stand out is the lengths to which he went to burnish the hero's story he created for himself, the U.S. Attorney's office said.
“He was particularly public in how he did it,” Toepfer said. “He went as far as accompanying a child to an elementary school and representing himself as a Navy SEAL there and as having received all of these awards.”
The school was his stepson’s, according to court documents. Toepfer said it was akin to a “take a veteran to school” event.
The grand jury indictment says that when confronted with the fake discharge paperwork, Jozwiak said, “I never used that for anything, nothing. Never have.”
But he was briefly granted VA pension benefits totally nearly $2,300 in 2014 before the VA inspector general started investigating.
Jozniak also pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and lying to investigators.
According to the indictment, he tried to convince his ex-wife to tell authorities that federal agents used an improper search warrant and stole lingerie from her bedroom during the search.
It's hard to say how many so-called stolen valor cases occur each year. A spokesman for the Justice Department in Washington said his office doesn't track these statistics.
Cases involving false claims of serving as a Navy SEAL are particularly scrutinized by the close-knit SEAL community headquartered in Coronado.
In a recent case that involved a former Southern California Marine, a man was convicted of lying about being injured in a bomb blast while serving in Iraq.
Using fake witness statements and a Purple Heart he didn’t earn, the former Marine was awarded disability checks and a mortage-free house before being caught.
a$$hole!!!
The dumbass former gov of Minnisota, Jessie Ventura for years has been falsely claiming he was a navy seal. He exited the navy before the seals were formed. Why don’t “they” put his butt in jail?
...take low lifes like this and ship them to the Arctic to count caribou.
It’s only against the law if you defraud the government, apparently................
Antarctic................
before the name seals,they were known as under water demolition team.
#1) Theft.The Federal government (and at least some states) make special provisions for veterans who have served honorably.That's entirely justified.If this country can't take care of those who've been in harm's way in service to the country then there's something seriously wrong.
#2) Making false claims about military service.I,like many Freepers,served honorably (meaning honorable discharge) during the Vietnam era.But unlike many,the closest I was ever ordered to Vietnam was Fort Knox,KY and the most dangerous thing I was ever ordered to do was to eat Army chow.I would never dishonor those of my peers who *were* ordered to SE Asia by claiming to have been there myself.Not for money,and not to simply impress others.
This guy stole from the United States Government.A nice little stretch at "Club Fed" might help him clear his head.
Yup,some time ago SCOTUS ruled that claiming military heroism/achievement simply to impress others is allowed by the First Amendment.
It was a good ruling, as that was one of the dumbest pieces of legislation ever to come out of Washington. You can't punish someone for lying about who they are unless they are using their fake identity to commit some other type of crime. You can't have a situation where I'm allowed to run around calling myself Donald Trump without any problem at all, but I can get prosecuted for falsely calling myself a former Green Beret.
It’s funny. I was in the Navy for four years (1966-1970). Today I meet more “Navy Seals” in the local bars than I ever did in the Navy...
I worked, after the USMC, as a civilian on a NAVY SEAL TRAINING BASE, Seals everywhere. I can tell at a glance if you are or are not simply from the way you stand.................
James George Janos AKA "Jesse Ventura" served in the US Navy from 1969 to 1975. He graduated BUD/S Class 58 in 1970, and served (not in combat) with UDT 12.
Thus saith Wikipedia. FWIW.
He's also a card-carrying douchebag.
Thus saith NorthMountain ...
When I was a kid, all the barroom phony braggarts had been “Rangers.”
As a young man they had all been “Green Berets.”
Later they claimed to have been “Delta Force.”
Today they all portray themselves as former “Seals.”
The names, the faces and the claims change, but they’re all the same.
Meanwhile, the fake Marine Vietnam combat veteran represents Connecticut in the US Senate.
He’s protecte(D)....................
I’ve never met anyone who claimed to be an ex-Marine Force Recon. Perhaps it’s because so few have heard of it and fewer still have been in it..................
Ping for your interest.
Funny, I used to take ‘glee’ in outing the phonies...
Was in the VFW and some guy comes up to me with an application and saying the guy didn’t sound right- and after hearing some ‘facts’ I proclaimed him eligible (jokingly at the time)
I reached my conclusion because he had claimed to be in the Navy, was a deck ape and served on an old LST.
In my ‘vast experience’ NO PHONY has EVER claimed to be a deck ape serving on an LST....
Guy turned out to be ‘ok’....
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