Cruze gets 7 months
Eggs sends us a link to the Las Vegas Journal Review which reports that Richard R. Cruze Jr. is not smiling so broadly now.
A Virginia circuit court judge sentenced former Las Vegas resident Richard R. Cruze Jr., who posed as a highly decorated Army colonel, to seven months in prison on two felony fraud charges linked to a forged military document.
Loudoun County Circuit Court Presiding Judge Thomas D. Horne also on Monday fined Cruze and charged him court costs totaling $1,730.
In addition, Horne ordered Cruze to work 100 hours of community service per year during three years of supervised probation and to attend counseling sessions and mental health evaluations.
Cruze pleaded guilty to having forged government documents, a military ID card, and using those documents to get Special Forces license plates in Virginia. You might remember that Cruze outed himself by wading into a convention of Army Rangers in his phony finery and trying to impress them. Of course, it was POW Network who aided in his incarceration;
Cruze posted a résumé with a nursing organization that said he served in Vietnam from June 1969 to September 1970 as a combat medic and had earned the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Cross of Gallantry, Soldiers Medal and the Army Distinguished Service Medal.
Military records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by a watchdog group, the POW Network, show Cruze never served in combat and received no valor awards or decorations. Instead, he is listed as an Army reservist from July 21, 1988, to Jan. 3, 1994, who served on inactive status for a hospital unit in Phoenix.
The Review-Journal also says that Nevada had an opportunity to arrest him when the local cops caught him driving around that state with Purple Heart license plates, but they decided to not press the issue. I’m glad Virginia takes Stolen Valor more seriously.
Category: Phony soldiers
Not sure if the outcome would have been the same a few miles east in Arlington…but kudos to Loudoun County and the Leesburg PD.
Good on the LVRJ for reporting the complete story, to include why no one in NV prosecuted him when they had the chance.
How do we encourage more news agencies to report this? Sure would be nice for those contemplating phony claims to hear the real risk they take. “Only” 7 months, but a lot can happen to a body in prison for 7 months.
Good. As for Mickey “the phony” Lloyd, the top cop of Cobb County GA who forged his DD214- NOTHING!
@OWB, your question is as good as any. I’m still waiting to hear if that bimbo reporter in Chicago is going to retract her statement about the phony IVAW Ranger that was interviewed about tossing his medals. All inquiries I’ve made have been ignored. Which when you think about it, pretty much sums up how the media views these issues as long as they get a “good story.”
This guy claims he had his MSN in nursing. He stole $10,000 from me. He is a piece of trash with no integrity.
Shitbag.
Hey Tina, look at the other posts about Cruze on this site. Especially the one by Leesburg Lady!!! Did you see him on the pownetwork site????
Should have been 7 years on each count instead of months.