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Martinez grad guilty of wearing bogus medals
San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 12/16/9 | Henry K. Lee

Posted on 12/16/2009 9:30:23 PM PST by SmithL

RIVERSIDE, CALIF. -- A Palm Springs man who surprised former classmates at his high school reunion in Martinez when he showed up in a Marine Corps uniform has pleaded guilty to wearing military medals that he never earned.

Steven Douglas Burton, 39, entered his guilty plea Monday in U.S. District Court in Riverside to a misdemeanor count of unauthorized wearing of military medals or decorations, averting a trial that had been scheduled for January.

He will face as much as a year in prison and up to a $100,000 fine when he is sentenced March 1. He remains free on $10,000 bond.

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Government; US: California
KEYWORDS: bronzestar; fakemarine; navycross; stolenvalor
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1 posted on 12/16/2009 9:30:24 PM PST by SmithL
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To: SmithL

Nice...He should be shot.


2 posted on 12/16/2009 9:31:48 PM PST by ConservativeNewYorker (FDNY 343 NYPD 23 PAPD 37)
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To: ConservativeNewYorker
A year in prison and/or $100,000 fine??

That's ridiculous. Cruel & Unusual punishment. He did something stupid and disresptful...not stick up a bank at gunpoint.

If he was actually in the service, maybe KP for 5 years....

3 posted on 12/16/2009 9:35:08 PM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: Sacajaweau
A year in prison and/or $100,000 fine??

He was going to get off with the fine but he demanded his year with Bubba. He's heard the stories... Now he's gonna get off with Bubba.

4 posted on 12/16/2009 9:39:27 PM PST by MARTIAL MONK (I'm waiting for the POP!)
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To: Sacajaweau

Apparently this turd never even served. Also, if you notice the decorations he is wearing, one of them is the Purple Heart, awarded to our combat wounded. If he gets a year, and the hefty fine...its well deserved.


5 posted on 12/16/2009 9:40:14 PM PST by ConservativeNewYorker (FDNY 343 NYPD 23 PAPD 37)
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To: Sacajaweau

I agree let’s put him in a brig on bread and water for a year and skip the fine.


6 posted on 12/16/2009 9:45:18 PM PST by usmcobra (Your chances of dying in bed are reduced by getting out of it, but most people still die in bed)
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To: SmithL

My goodness gracious! Jumping from “Master Gunnery Sergeant” to “Lt Colonel” in just 9 months! Amazing!

And all those medals!

Again proving that anything worth doing, is worth over doing to the nth degree with these (insert expletive) (insert derogatory adjective) (insert favorite derogatory noun)s.


7 posted on 12/16/2009 9:46:00 PM PST by ApplegateRanch (Islam: a Satanically Transmitted Disease, spread by unprotected intimate contact with the Koranus.)
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To: SmithL

I got a chewing out by my First Sergeant once because I had shot Sharpshooter instead of Expert at the Range but when we had an inspection later in the week, I still had the Expert Badge on my Class A’s. I would have never worn it without the proper ribbons and badges, but Top was pissed that I had it hanging im my locker with the wrong badge.


8 posted on 12/16/2009 9:46:51 PM PST by Bad Jack Bauer (Fat and Bald? I was BORN fat and bald, thank you very much!)
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To: Bad Jack Bauer

I think we had the same First shirt... LOL


9 posted on 12/16/2009 9:50:06 PM PST by ConservativeNewYorker (FDNY 343 NYPD 23 PAPD 37)
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To: ConservativeNewYorker

wasn’t he also reported to be a homo?


10 posted on 12/16/2009 9:53:35 PM PST by panzerkamphwageneinz
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To: panzerkamphwageneinz

Who?? My First Sergeant?? Kidding.....I dunno about his sexuality, but he is a mutt for being a PX Ranger.


11 posted on 12/16/2009 9:55:55 PM PST by ConservativeNewYorker (FDNY 343 NYPD 23 PAPD 37)
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To: ConservativeNewYorker
Yup. I didn't think he was.

Buried in the middle of the article. Federal and military investigators confirmed that Burton had never been in the armed forces.

12 posted on 12/16/2009 9:56:44 PM PST by Red Steel
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To: Sacajaweau

I agree with you, that is excessive. Being a Veteran, I would suggest that they put him in a room with a few good Marines, and furnish soap bars and towels. They would mute out the appropriate sentence in minutes.


13 posted on 12/16/2009 9:58:28 PM PST by richardtavor
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To: Red Steel

I figured that. Most PX Rangers, who served are generally smart enough when inflating their fruit salad in a target rich enviroment, to not wear anything to draw attention to themselves from former military types.


14 posted on 12/16/2009 10:01:23 PM PST by ConservativeNewYorker (FDNY 343 NYPD 23 PAPD 37)
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To: ConservativeNewYorker

Top used to take the guidon in his teeth when we ran by other formations at Ft. Bliss. His voice had three settings, yelling, bellowing and screaming. The screaming setting was usually reserved for officers who were just as scared of him as we were. Not even snipers from a mile away would shoot at him because, what if they missed? He would be pissed! If you hit him he probably would not die and be even more pissed!


15 posted on 12/16/2009 10:06:31 PM PST by Bad Jack Bauer (Fat and Bald? I was BORN fat and bald, thank you very much!)
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To: SmithL

I’ve always wondered why phony vets always tell the most outlandish stories and make the claims they do. I’ve encountered enough SEALs to make them a separate branch of the military. It’s kind of sad really, and ultimately brings disgrace. I myself used to tell people that I was wounded at the battle of the Milvian Bridge until I realized that people really believed me.


16 posted on 12/16/2009 10:07:02 PM PST by VR-21
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To: SmithL
Salonga asked Burton to have his picture taken with her. She turned over the photo to the FBI.

Lol, beautiful. Damn, that boy's dumb.

17 posted on 12/16/2009 10:09:40 PM PST by LibWhacker (America awake!)
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To: Bad Jack Bauer

Aaaaah you spent some time in Bliss.. I spent time at Ft. Sam and Ft Hood. I got an Article 15 once for sunburn...Too many Senoritas, too many cervezas and too much South Padre..


18 posted on 12/16/2009 10:09:45 PM PST by ConservativeNewYorker (FDNY 343 NYPD 23 PAPD 37)
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To: richardtavor
"I would suggest that they put him in a room with a few good Marines, and furnish soap bars and towels. They would mute out the appropriate sentence in minutes."

If that happens, can I represent Army veterans at the blanket party? I'll even bring the beer!

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

19 posted on 12/16/2009 10:09:49 PM PST by wku man (Who says conservatives don't rock? Go to www.myspace.com/rockfromtheright)
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To: VR-21

VR..All those SEALS, ask them what their BUD/S class number was....that tends to shake them up.


20 posted on 12/16/2009 10:11:16 PM PST by ConservativeNewYorker (FDNY 343 NYPD 23 PAPD 37)
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