Another Phony War Hero Convicted
Blotter:
A North Carolina man, who claimed he saw years of combat and earned medals, including the Purple Heart, was found guilty this week of peddling a false military record in order to collect thousands in soldier disability payments.
Randall Moneymaker, of Clayton, N.C., claimed he had served as an Army Ranger on tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Panama and Grenada and had earned medals and badges of honor.
But, according to federal investigators, Moneymaker was a fraud who spent only a short time in the Army, was given a less than honorable discharge and never saw any combat.
“This defendant attempted to defraud the men and women who serve and protect our freedom,” U.S. Attorney John Brownlee said, following the guilty verdict. Moneymaker was found guilty of making false statements, submitting false documents and theft of government funds.
Moneymaker’s claims to collect more than $18,000 in disability payments were numerous. In a Veterans Affairs compensation and pension medical exam, he claimed he “had been involved in numerous combat situations, including RPG attacks and firefights,” according to the federal indictment against him.
Moneymaker also said “he had sustained various service-connected injuries and illnesses, including shell fragment wound and post traumatic stress syndrome,” according to his indictment.
Topping his claims, Moneymaker said he had the scars from combat service, but federal authorities say the scars match a liposuction procedure he had done.
“We hope this case will send a message,” Brownlee told ABC News. “Through deceit and fraud, he took away money needed for our true American heroes.”
Moneymaker faces a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison and a fine of $1,505,000.
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Moneymaker huh? Yeah, he was that. His first name should have been carnival barker.
Now he can safely change his name to jail bait. He won’t get the 35 years. Maybe 5 serve 2 and be on probation for the rest. Restitution depends on how much he stole. If he ends up getting fined a few hundred thousand, I’d be surprised.
March 27th, 2008 at 10:37 pmBankruptcy and 35 years in Leavenworth sound about right
PS - I’ve read elsewhere there’s an entire underground industry that will provide all the fake documents and military records necessary to pull off a scam like this.
Track ‘em down and put them all behind bars.
(1911, full mag)
March 27th, 2008 at 10:44 pmIf he was Researve you have to Think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 27th, 2008 at 10:50 pmI think he should be kitted up and sent to Basra for 24 months to legitimize himself.
March 28th, 2008 at 5:09 amIf he survives he gets my respect and gratitude.
If not, he gets 21 guns and his name on the Glory Board like any other fallen trooper.
What a scumbag. He’s not just lying about his record, he’s defrauding the taxpayers, i.e. you and me.
That pic should be a clue:
All that fruit-salad, CIB, jump wings, scuba bubble, what looks like an air-assault badge, Ranger tab, and God knows what else. Fakes like him are never content with being an ordinary soldier/Marine/sailor/airman. No sir. They are “Special-Unit-SEAL-Force-Recon-Airborne-Ranger-Delta-Commando-Force” guy. Tabbed out, with every badge, ribbon, and medal you can think of.
My solution? Offer him, and any other exposed phonies a choice: military prison or a tour in Iraq / or ATO. Maybe they can actually earn some of those ribbons, and prevent some kid from getting stop-lossed and going back for a fourth tour.
March 28th, 2008 at 5:17 amKBar.. there is nothing ordinary about any soldier.
This guy however was just a greedy man who could not accomplish his mission and quit. He deserves what he gets. I hope some day he has enough honor to apologize to those who truly earned the medals, ribbons, benefits by wearing the uniform and doing the job.
March 28th, 2008 at 5:36 amWhat are these idiot thinking?!!
The army keeps detailed records of unit deployment, and a log of all personel in the unit. How the hell did he expect to pull this shit off?!!!
Castrate the bastard!!!
March 28th, 2008 at 6:05 amI hope you didn’t think that was a shot at the Army. What I meant was that these phonies always make themselves out to be some sort of Spec-Ops type. They can’t just say they were a grunt, tanker, avionics tech, artillery, motor-t, mechanic, etc. as that wouldn’t be good enough (in their eyes). But you and I know different.
- An ordinary Marine and proud of it.
March 28th, 2008 at 6:45 amThe guy is just a plain old thief. The guys that do it just for attention are just plain sick.
March 28th, 2008 at 8:55 amSo true brother. As an ex-Army SF soldier, I can confirm that the kind of self promotion this guy displays is totally contrary to how the majority of real SOF operators comport themselves. Army SF are known as “The Quiet Professionals”, and Rangers include themselves in that description (as they should since they’re under JSOC, which makes them SOF soldiers). There is a bit of a double entendre there, since the “quiet” refers to Army SF mission focus usually being covert/clandestine and stealth in execution. But it also refers to the idea that you are not interested in medals or recognition as an SF soldier, you just want to accomplish your mission and move on to the next task. Bragging and acting like a “badass”, etc etc, is rarely part of a SF soldiers (or any other SOF operators that I worked with) character.
You would be hard pressed to find any SOF operator from any service that would disrespect the “regular” soldier/marine/airman/sailor/coastie (except of course for the usual joking that goes on in the military about other services). The truth is that SOF units are becoming more important as we move into more asymmetrical warfare. BUT, the majority of the heavy lifting is still done by the “regular” guys and it always will be. No one knows that better then an SOF guy.
Absolutely agree. It’s amazing that these guys who try this crap think they can get away with it. The US Army SF, and SOF (Ranger) communities are SMALL. Just like all the other services SOF communities. Not to mention the couple of websites I occasionally hang out on that are specifically US Army SF/Ranger oriented, have people who spend a lot of their time looking for these kind of “men” and then out them publically when they find that they are frauds. I don’t know from actual experience, but I would assume that all the other websites that are part of any of the SOF communities (SEALs, Airforce PJs, Force Recon, etc) would have something identical or similar.
These kind of clowns use to get me extremely upset. Not because I ever thought I was “special” (although my better half might argue I’m “special” in the retarded sense of the word, lol), but because there is a definite pride associated with passing all the tests and trials that are necessary to make it into any of the SOF units. That makes it more upsetting that someone would just assume the identity of a real SOF operator without having actually paid the price of admission (there is no way this mental and physical weakling could have made it through all 3 phases of Ranger School and earned the Black and Gold).
But now I feel more sad for them then anything else. They are extremely insecure, small in character losers who haven’t accomplished anything in their lives. So they usurp someone else’s accomplishments hoping to feel better about themselves. Ironically, I suspect that actually makes them feel even worse about themselves since deep down they know they’re living a lie. What upsets me most about this particular situation, which has already been stated, is that he is defrauding the Army, and ultimately that means he is defrauding us, the taxpayers. That is money that could have been used to purchase body armor or a new Sniper Rifle system, etc.
As far as sending guys like this into real combat as punishment; while I can understand and empathize with those sentiments, I can’t agree. Just like I stated about the Army deserter who went to Canada, I wouldn’t want this loser anywhere near me in a combat situation. Nor would I want any of my fellow soldiers to have to rely on him. Force him to pay back every penny he stole, preferably by making him clean public restrooms with a toothbrush. Then permanently revoke his US Citizenship and deport him.
Sorry for the ridiculously long post…I’ve been sick with the flu the last couple of days and obviously have too much time on my hands.
March 28th, 2008 at 9:07 am
Jason’s dad,
March 28th, 2008 at 9:12 amYeah, that’s an awful lot of fruit salad for a staff sergeant. But then again, “fruit salad” might be an appropriate term here. Glad they caught him.
March 28th, 2008 at 9:30 amI agree with Jason’s Dad that these assholes should have no place in any active Service of the US. Not only are they frauds, selfish and lazy, trying to take the short cut while others earn it with time, blood and experience, but it would be a wreckless fool like these guys that would cost lives of people around them.
Then there’s the time he took up with these false claims. I have a buddy that had to move out of the country to a place where he could live on 60% DAV. He finally got his 100% rating but since out of country claims go through one place, Philly, he is on a back log of about 812,000 and hopes to see his comp increase in his lifetime. With the dollar falling in value, it’s gonna be close for him. I wonder how many false claims are in that pile of 812,000?
March 28th, 2008 at 10:04 amooo-rah Marine!
March 28th, 2008 at 4:40 pmReal heroes never need to brag.
March 29th, 2008 at 11:06 ami spent time in usarec.(recruiting command) that’s 3 years of hell by itself. in my opinion its the hardest job in the army. i am in the 101st and spent time in iraq and afghanistan. when you run across people like this you have to ask questions. ranger school? ask em what RAP week is. everybody who went to ranger school knows what RAP week( ranger assessment. or ask em what a isofac is? or ask em how to execute a proper PLF. what are the five points of performance. how many phases are in SFQC. anybody thats an 18 series knows you start out on ruck teams. scuba? what are the steps in phisiology? if they can’t answer basic course questions or if they don’t remember they are a phony. anybody that went thru any course can remember at least one person in their class. everybody bonds to someone in those classes. you already know where i am going with this.
July 25th, 2008 at 7:21 pmKerry Crowley, aka Major Kerry Crowley,is another poser. Check out the claims (Silver Star, Bronze Star, EIB, SF Tab)on his resume at http://www.pownetwork.org/phonies/phonies1056.htm
August 11th, 2008 at 3:16 pmand then read his actual background. pownetwork.org is doing a good job of exposing these losers. Hopefully the judges will enforce the Stolen Valor Act and start sentencing these guys to the fullest extent.