Phony dies in prison

We wrote about Anthony Todd Saxon here and here when he dressed up in an Army uniform and innocently signed out a Claymore mine and some night vision equipment. All because he missed his days in the Army. And I do mean days.

After the Army discharged him 15 years ago for a heart condition, Anthony Todd Saxon so desperately wanted to keep serving that he bought an combat uniform and fooled troops at Fort Gordon and his family into believing he remained in the ranks.

Saxon, 36, insisted Monday he meant no harm when he went to the base last year and posed as a master sergeant, saying he was driven by a lifelong desire to serve his country that got cut short after just three years when the Florida National Guard dismissed him in 1994.

Inman noted authorities suspect Saxon may have had a live anti-personnel mine at the time of his arrest, though a bomb squad blew it up before investigators could get a close look. Explosives charges were dropped as part of his plea deal, along with counts of theft of government property, theft of a firearm, illegal possession of a rifle with a shortened barrel.

His wife, who thought he was deploying to Afghanistan before his arrest, explains why he did it;

Saxon’s wife, Rhonda Saxon, said she had forgiven her husband. When Saxon was arrested, prosecutors said, she and other family members believed Saxon was about to deploy overseas to Afghanistan.

“He’s a good person,” she told the judge. “His love for the military is absolutely crazy. That’s all he dreams about and thinks about every day.”

Every “good person” I know has a stolen rifle and Claymore mines in their homes and tells their wife he’s deploying to war without being in the service.

But today we get the news that this particular “good person” died in prison this weekend;

A funeral home confirmed the death of Anthony Todd Saxon, of Burke County, who was serving more than four years in Coleman, Fla. The prison refused comment.

A Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman said all prison deaths are investigated and that no details in Saxon’s death will be released until an inquiry is completed.

So, while he lays in state, this is his memorial post.

Category: Phony soldiers