Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Tale of Two Phony Soldiers

First the good news: This lowlife was sentenced to seven and a half years for impersonating a United States Marine.
A Scottsdale man who posed as a highly decorated Marine for several years was sentenced Tuesday to 7 1/2 years in prison, according to the Arizona Attorney General's Office.

John W. Rodriguez, 31 was sentenced in Maricopa Country Superior Court on charges of forgery, fraudulent schemes and presentation of a false instrument for filing. Along with prison time, the sentence includes four years of probation upon his release.

Between 2005 and 2010, Rodriguez falsely represented himself as a Marine who was honored with a variety of prestigious medals, according to Molly E. Edwards, press secretary for the Arizona Attorney General's Office.

Dan Ryan, a former Marine and FBI agent, first came in contact with Rodriguez at a Republican committee meeting in 2008. He noticed Rodriguez wearing a service uniform with some of the military branch's highest honors, including the Navy Cross. The Navy Cross is the second highest award for Marines and sailors.

"My first reaction was, 'This guy's a stud,' " Ryan said. "Then I looked a little more and thought, 'Something's going on here.' I'm very, very sensitive about the Navy Cross. I happen to have written one of the citations for the Marine who was killed right next to me in 1967 in Vietnam in a firefight."

Ryan decided to look into Rodriguez's background. After doing some research, Ryan alerted investigators at the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

A search of Department of the Navy and Department of Defense records found that Rodriguez never served in any branch of the military.
Good for Ryan. That's how Republicans handle their business with these phony soldiers.

As to the Democrats, they don't out and go after their phony soldiers. They have them run for the United States Senate.

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