68-year-old William R. Jones, a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the Illinois Air National Guard, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sara L. Darrow to pay a $40,000 fine, $71,472 in restitution and serve three years of supervised release after he gets out of prison after he was convicted of stolen valor and for fleecing the Veterans’ Affairs Department of $71,472.<\/p>\n
He had joined the Air National Guard in 1971, but he had never deployed to Vietnam, but he convinced the VA that he’d been shot down and wounded in that war with the help of VSOs and a Senator’s office, according to WQAD<\/a>;<\/p>\n In 2003 Jones submitted for disability benefits, claiming he suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder related to his combat service in the Republic of Vietnam. However, according to the Department of Justice\u2019s statement, \u201cat no time did Jones ever serve in the Southeast Asia or Republic of Vietnam.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition, Jones falsely claimed that he had served as a Special Operations air crewman and was wounded when his gunship was shot down, according to the statement. He said he had gotten a Bronze Star Medal with V for Valor and a Purple Heart for his service in the Republic of Vietnam.<\/p>\n \u201cThe VA denied the claims after checking Jones\u2019 military service records and determining that he was never in RVN,\u201d read the statement.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t stop there though, the statement explained. Jones continued to try and get benefits, and submitted a false document to the VA that prompted the American Legion and public officials to petition on his behalf, based on the false representations.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a result of his false representations, Jones received $71,472 from the VA for combat-related disability,\u201d read the statement.<\/p>\n In 2013 the American Legion submitted a new claim on Jones\u2019 behalf, that included documents of his service, including copies of several false certificates that seemingly backed up false service claims. That same year Jones submitted documents to Senator Dick Durbin\u2019s office that included false information about his service prompting Durbin to support Jones\u2019 claim for disability benefits.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Like I said, Jones never served in Vietnam and he certainly wasn’t in the Air Force special operations, whatever that is. Jail time is kinda weak, but at least there’s some restitution, if he lives long enough to pay up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"