Man pleads guilty to fraudulent Navy Cross

[thedrifter]

Man pleads guilty to fraudulent Navy Cross

By John Hoellwarth - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Feb 1, 2007 13:16:59 EST

A St. Louis man pleaded guilty in federal court today to fraudulently wearing the nation’s second-highest award for combat valor to a local Marine Corps birthday ball last November, according to the St. Louis U.S. Attorney’s office.

When he entered his plea, Michael Weilbacher, 48, admitted he had never served in the Marine Corps and had not earned the Navy Cross he wore to the ball, according to a statement released by U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway, who prosecuted the case.

Weilbacher’s case was referred to the FBI by Marines at the ball who suspected he was an impostor, according to the release.

Weilbacher is scheduled to be sentenced April 13 and faces a maximum punishment of six months in prison and a $5,000 fine under the law in effect at the time of his arrest.

The Stolen Valor Act, signed into law the month following Weilbacher’s arrest, doubled the maximum fine and prison sentence for anyone who fraudulently claims “verbally or in writing” to rate a decoration authorized by Congress for the armed forces.

Weilbacher’s case, along with that of Jim Fields, another Missouri man who delivered a Veterans Day speech to the American Legion in Chillicothe wearing what he later admitted to Marine Corps Times was an unearned Navy Cross, was credited by lawmakers with creating the last-minute momentum that got the Stolen Valor Act out of the House Judiciary Committee and onto the floor before the 109th Congress adjourned at the end of last year.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/xml/news/2007/02/mcguiltyplea070201/070201_weilbacher_story_287.jpg

Michael Weilbacher, 48, said in court today that he had never served in the Marine Corps and had not earned the Navy Cross he wore to the Corps' birthday ball in November. Sentencing is scheduled for April 13.

Ellie

[ggyoung]

Outstanding. Go to P.O.W. network's phonies index for more

[thedrifter]

Man pleads guilty of wearing phony medal
By Heather Ratcliffe
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Friday, Feb. 02 2007

In court Thursday, Michael Weilbacher admitted that he was never in the

Marines and never was awarded the Navy Cross.

Bob Hunt shook his head in disgust as he gazed across a federal courtroom in
St. Louis. "He's a phony," Hunt said, not quite loudly enough for Michael
Weilbacher to hear.

For years, the two traded small talk at Marine Corps League meetings of South
St. Louis Detachment 183. That was back when Hunt, a Marine from 1956-59,
believed Weilbacher's story that he had been a Marine, too.

It was a lie that brought Welbacher to court Thursday morning to plead guilty
of wearing a congressionally authorized medal he did not earn. It's a
misdemeanor charge that since his arrest in November has been elevated by the
Stolen Valor Act to a felony for future offenders.

Weilbacher, 48, of the 200 block of Horsehoe Drive, in Kirkwood, admitted to
U.S. Magistrate Judge David D. Noce that he was never in the Marines and not
entitled to wear a Navy Cross, the Corps' second-highest honor.

"I take full responsibility," he said.

Weilbacher declined to comment after the hearing. At sentencing April 13 he
faces a penalty of up to six months in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Hunt, 68, a retired salesman from St. Louis County, told a reporter, "I
couldn't even ride in the elevator with the guy. I would have punched him."

He and another former Marine attended the hearing.

"I paid my dues and served honorably," said Hunt. "People are out there today
dying. And he's walking around a phony."

Hunt said he was on the Marine Corps League's local board when Weilbacher, a
computer consultant, applied several years ago. Hunt said Weilbacher claimed to
have lost his discharge papers but got in anyway when a member vouched for him.

Weilbacher claimed to be a retired major who did classified national security
work, Hunt said. "When a guy who's been in the service says that, you know to
just drop it and let it go."

It was medals that unraveled the lie. Weilbacher arrived at the organization's
ball Nov. 11 with a Navy Cross, Silver Star and two Bronze Stars dangling from
his uniform. He claimed he got the Navy Cross for an anti-drug mission in
Colombia, according to court documents.

That impressive array of hardware stirred the curiosity of a real retired
Marine major, William Dragan. He contacted a military historian, who called the
FBI when he could not verify Weilbacher's credentials.

Said Hunt, "I guess he was just trying to impress everyone."

Ellie

[YLDNDN6]

Hopefully, this azz-bag will have some REAL prison tats to show off in the future! What a piece of work.

[ridingcrops]

Why do these clowns do this ?
All the time I seem to run into people who claim to have been in the Corps but don't know anything about it. And a lot of them are the ones who are strong about sending troops to Iraq. I guess it's easy to say send someone elses son or daughter to do something they didn't have the package to do themselves.