Grand Slam – USMC, Officer, Purple Heart, Service Dog
No, this ‘Grand Slam’ is not a Denny’s breakfast that you order after a night of drinking. It’s checking all the Stolen Valor boxes.
In what can only be described as the most elaborate game of “fake it ’til you make it” gone horribly wrong, 57-year-old Lissa Lagasse of Lowell has been charged with enough crimes to fill a Netflix limited series. This educational con artist allegedly forged a master’s degree and doctorate from Duke University, claimed to be a Purple Heart-winning Marine combat veteran (spoiler alert: she never served), and somehow convinced multiple Massachusetts school districts to hire her as a health teacher. Her performance was so convincing that she managed to work in Lowell, Worcester, and Haverhill, where she recently taught students about health while apparently having a very unhealthy relationship with the truth.
But wait, there’s more! Lagasse brought her alleged “service dog” from the “Wounded Warrior Project” to class, except the dog had no certification, and the Wounded Warrior Project had never heard of her. The furry fraud proceeded to bite a student, who then needed rabies shots – because nothing says “health education” like requiring medical treatment after class. Prosecutors revealed she had previously done time for check theft in the ’90s, making her career pivot to education seem like a natural progression from petty crime to grand academic theater. Now facing charges ranging from stolen valor to being a “common and notorious thief” (which sounds like a medieval insult), Lagasse pleaded not guilty and is being held on $25,000 bail with GPS monitoring – because apparently even her location needs fact-checking at this point.
WCVB | Ted Wayman | June 6, 2025
SALEM, Mass. — A Haverhill teacher was arraigned in court on Friday on multiple charges, including stolen valor, false credentials and reckless endangerment of a child. Lissa Lagasse, 57, of Lowell was arrested Friday morning on multiple charges, including three counts of pretending to hold degrees, identity fraud and reckless endangerment of a child, three counts of procurement fraud, two counts of stolen valor, six counts of uttering at common law and intimidation of a witness, three counts of larceny exceeding $1,200, and being a common and notorious thief in violation of Massachusetts law, the Essex County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday. Advertisement Prosecutors said Lagasse falsified a master’s degree and a doctorate from Duke University, as well as her teaching credentials. Additionally, investigators said she claimed to be a two-time wounded combat veteran and a Purple Heart recipient.
Category: Marine Corps Poser, Purple Heart, Stolen Valor
