Article says she fraudiently obtained purple heart licence plates. I hardly think that is worth a 20 year sentence. The judge must be off his rocker. I wonder if he is getting kickbacks from the private prison sector?
Is there a financial benefit to having the plates? If she swore/attested to something to get them, I have no problem making an example of someone but you’re right - 20 years seems harsh. I’d defer to the veterans/military for the punishment.
I am sure there is more to the story, which is confusing to begin with. There would be several violations involved in getting PH plates when posing. The person would have to have presented false government documents to a government agency and signed a statement that it was all true and valid or words to that effect. In many states PH plates are free for life meaning you are not paying to register a vehicle ever again so you are also defrauding the state as well of all the money you would have paid.
In our state PH plates are available for 2 vehicles per each qualified veteran (two plates that never expire), so that would be even more money the state was defrauded out of if the person got multiple plates.
A person who does this ends up breaking so many laws it is not even funny on top of Stolen Valor of posing for profit.
I would imagine this person was charged with a whole stack of charges, Stolen Valor was only one of the charges.