Ultimate phony soldier sentenced
Back in April, I wrote about Yupeng Deng, the ultimate phony soldier who not only didn’t have a military career, but recruited other phonies and built a whole unit of Chinese nationals who hoped that by joining the ranks of phonies, they would achieve US citizenship.
Well he pleaded guilty yesterday;
Deng pleaded guilty to one count each of theft, manufacturing deceptive government documents and counterfeiting an official government seal, and a Los Angeles County judge sentenced him immediately.
Deng also pleaded guilty to felony possession of child pornography, which stemmed from a computer search by authorities investigating the military scam. He was sentenced to 16 months for that charge, but the time will be served concurrently with the rest of his sentence.
Besides the prison sentence, Deng was ordered to pay about $200,000 in restitution. Ten other counts were dismissed as part of a plea deal.
This is how he was finally busted;
Walnut city councilman and U.S. Army veteran Joaquin Lim sensed something was amiss when he saw Deng’s troops at civic events held by the Chinese immigrant community. At a flag-raising ceremony honoring a Chinese holiday, Lim stopped one of the recruits and asked to see his military ID.
“There were actually typos on the ID card,” Lim said. “Right away, I knew something was wrong.”
It was another veteran who discovered the large-scale plot to defraud his own countrymen. We know phonys when we see them, so it’s our responsibility to report it, since not many others will take the time.
Thanks to John for the link.
Category: Phony soldiers, Shitbags
I’ve been puzzled how so many people can claim military service, much less honors, until recently. We were in a local antique shop and there in a case were all kinds of medals for sale. Purple Hearts, Bronze Stars, all kinds. This should be illegal really. I understand people like to collect militaria, but isn’t there a way to regulate this ?
Cat – only the MOH is truly regulated. Collecting militaria should not be out of bounds, as most folks do not have the intent to harm society when they purchase. This includes such weapons as rifles, pistols, and swords, too.
The issue that continues to crop up with stealing valor is not the intent of those who do it, or the acts themselves – they act, are discovered, and are busted. The issue is legal reasoning used by judges in determining that such acts are of no harm to society; and constitute free speech.
A child of one knows what right and wrong is. Would that our judges be so wise.
Selling full sized medals was illegal for years. You could only buy miniatures. Somehow the law got changed and this is the result. I still believe that full sized medals should not be sold unless you can prove you are a collector(which I don’t know how you’d do that) or earned them…but that’s just me.
Honor and Courage
I don’t think I’ve ever worn a “full-sized medal” in uniform. I’ve either worn ribbons or mini-medals. I know the Marines do though.