Legion Troll
A fine upstanding poster
The rocket exploded under the Humvee and launched the vehicle into the air.
It was August 2005, two years into Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Darryl Lee Wright was on patrol with the Idaho National Guard in Kirkuk, a city in northern Iraq.
Wright recalled later that he was "violently thrown and knocked unconscious from the percussion of the rocket's impact."
The blast, he would say, was massive: "Rubble and debris from the impact showered the sky for scores of meters."
The attack left Wright with post-traumatic stress disorder and a brain injury, he told federal agencies. As a result, he would lie in the fetal position in his bed most days, unable to hold down a job, cook meals or button his shirt.
But the story, prosecutors say, was a lie.
Wright did serve in Iraq, court documents say, and he was patrolling in Kirkuk at the time of an August 2005 attack.
But the rocket aimed at his Humvee missed by more than 300 feet, according to an official Army report. No one was injured by the small explosion, the Army concluded.
The military's report included statements from Wright, who "made no mention of sustaining injury or otherwise suffering any effects from the explosion."
Wright ramped up the drama in his retelling of the event to various federal agencies to get hundreds of thousands of dollars in disability payments.
To give his lie some heft, Wright persuaded military officials to award him a Purple Heart and a Combat Action Badge.
In his application for the badge, he included a picture of a charred military vehicle that investigators later determined had nothing to do with the near-miss he was involved in.
The story helped Wright bilk the federal government out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in disability benefits — at one point receiving more than $10,000 a month.
Following an investigation that involved no fewer than 10 federal and state agencies, Wright was indicted in what the Justice Department described as an "extensive benefits fraud scheme."
Federal prosecutors said Wright bilked the government out of more than $750,000.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud in federal court in Tacoma, Wash. The 49-year-old faces up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
Wright's sister, Karen Bevens, who also pleaded guilty in the scheme, was paid to be his primary caretaker.
http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/doj-veteran-s-purple-heart-lies-cost-government-752-000-1.425610
It was August 2005, two years into Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Darryl Lee Wright was on patrol with the Idaho National Guard in Kirkuk, a city in northern Iraq.
Wright recalled later that he was "violently thrown and knocked unconscious from the percussion of the rocket's impact."
The blast, he would say, was massive: "Rubble and debris from the impact showered the sky for scores of meters."
The attack left Wright with post-traumatic stress disorder and a brain injury, he told federal agencies. As a result, he would lie in the fetal position in his bed most days, unable to hold down a job, cook meals or button his shirt.
But the story, prosecutors say, was a lie.
Wright did serve in Iraq, court documents say, and he was patrolling in Kirkuk at the time of an August 2005 attack.
But the rocket aimed at his Humvee missed by more than 300 feet, according to an official Army report. No one was injured by the small explosion, the Army concluded.
The military's report included statements from Wright, who "made no mention of sustaining injury or otherwise suffering any effects from the explosion."
Wright ramped up the drama in his retelling of the event to various federal agencies to get hundreds of thousands of dollars in disability payments.
To give his lie some heft, Wright persuaded military officials to award him a Purple Heart and a Combat Action Badge.
In his application for the badge, he included a picture of a charred military vehicle that investigators later determined had nothing to do with the near-miss he was involved in.
The story helped Wright bilk the federal government out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in disability benefits — at one point receiving more than $10,000 a month.
Following an investigation that involved no fewer than 10 federal and state agencies, Wright was indicted in what the Justice Department described as an "extensive benefits fraud scheme."
Federal prosecutors said Wright bilked the government out of more than $750,000.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud in federal court in Tacoma, Wash. The 49-year-old faces up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
Wright's sister, Karen Bevens, who also pleaded guilty in the scheme, was paid to be his primary caretaker.
http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/doj-veteran-s-purple-heart-lies-cost-government-752-000-1.425610
