William Ronald Harshbarger; Iraq vet stealing from vets’ charity
Chief Tango sends us a link about William Ronald Harshbarger who was taking up donations for Wounded Warriors Project but putting those donations in own pocket in Missouri, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Attorney General Chris Koster said he and prosecutors in the two counties could not stand by when anyone “collects donations, falsely, in the name of a respected organization, and then keeps the money for his personal use.”
Koster said Harshbarger routinely solicited donations outside stores such as Schnucks and Walmart in the two counties, receiving at least one $1,000 check.
He also took part in events such as a Veterans Day-related fundraiser at Living Word Christian School in O’Fallon, Mo., where he received almost $750.
Koster said prosecutors respect Harshbarger’s military service and the fact that he had been wounded.
“But it does not in any way give him or anybody else a green light to steal from other servicemen and women nationally through the name of the Wounded Warrior Project,” he said at a news conference in his St. Louis office.
Apparently, he also traded on the good names of veterans to solicit donations at some child’s 15th birthday party where guests were urged to donate instead of giving the child a gift. Harshbarger altered a check from one his victims. That was how he got busted.
He pleaded guilty to the felony stealing charges.
Category: Dumbass Bullshit
Hope he enjoys, Bubba and Thor!!! I KNOW they will enjoy him. Again and again and again.
What a bottom-feeding scavenger. May he rot in a special corner of hell.
Sooooo, was this maggot wounded?
It is not a requirement for WOUNDED WARRIOR Project!!!
Post 9/11 and general discharge or better, but they do not even check. You could be in a gang fight and qualify for WWP without ever being in the service.
With those types of numbers and the MASSIVE media campaign, one wonders how turds such as this maggot slip through the cracks. And I can tell you, WWP does not “Vet” folks. they actually fired one last year for doing his job and vetting folks; disabled to boot. They actually said he was to slow. He replied “quality over quantity”. they canned him. I mean, they need every dime they can collect before the wars are over.
Just look at their Form 990.
What’s worse if indeed he WAS WOUNDED and was collecting donations without oversight.
Once again, no surprise here.
he was not associated with WWP. He was not an employee or soliciting on their behalf. He was simply using their name to scam people into giving him money.
Fair enough.
This is the same group that refuses to interact with churches or gun groups.
HOW MANY phonies has the WWP been caught giving things to so far? They keep doing it as well as give their top echelon generous six figure salaries, and people wonder why I cuss whenever I hear them mentioned!
WWP and their overpaid CEO chiming in on a mass email w/ resect to the Ft. Hood shooting:
The WWP family is saddened by the tragedy at Fort Hood. In the days and weeks to come, we anticipate much of the media dialogue will center around the shooter’s military service and mental health. We are taking steps to remind people this was the act of a single individual. It is our continuing goal to educate the media and the general public that it is unfair to conclude any service member or veteran dealing with military-related stress is considered a risk for violence.
Nearly all of America’s sons and daughters who have served in uniform have done so honorably and are law-abiding citizens who contribute greatly to their communities. We see firsthand that too often those living with invisible injuries may suffer in silence because of these negative portrayals.
Please don’t be discouraged by what you may hear in the news — seek help. These psychological wounds are real and normal. WWP is here to support and advocate for you during your successful recovery and beyond. If you are coping with the invisible wounds of war, know WWP has resources for you, all of which are free of charge.
If you need assistance, please use these resources:
•Veteran’s Crisis Line: 1.800.273.8255
•WWP Resource Center: 1.888.WWP.ALUM (1.888.997.2586)
•WWP Restore Warriors Website: http://www.restorewarriors.org (Combat Stress, PTSD and TBI self-help website)
We’re with you all the way!
Sincerely,
Steve Nardizzi
Chief Executive Officer
*But yet a VERY large percentage of WWP’s membership was not in combat, wounded or even deployed in some cases.
Just make sure you sending those donations!
I can’t think of a single one, by your logic because some asshat says that he is associated with an organization and commits fraud the entire organization is wrong. Fucking assholes.
You should get out more, JPJ.
You really should.
Limited mindset, lack of overall intelligence and just plain stupidity paint a very telling picture.
You strike me as a attachment, nothing more.
What a dirt bag. Urging people to donate instead of giving presents to a 15 year old on their birthday. He ranks right up there with the dude that scammed the Ott kid with his douchebaggery.
I hope they find a midget boxer who uses this guys nutsack as a speedbag.
Fucking awesome!
I literaly laughed out loud at that one. I just got a lot of weird looks from the others in the office.
I’m highly doubting this Harshbarger shithead ever served and especially that he was wounded. I’ll bet the prosecutor was just spouting something he was told. Harshbarger was 23 when OIF started. He appears to have a long history with the criminal justice system. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch this turd was arrested on 11 felony counts, stealing, forgery, financial exploitation of the elderly and making misrepresentations in soliciting charity funds. Prior to this arrest, he was arrested in August, 2011 on 3 counts of theft. Before that he was arrested two other times. Once on 4 counts of tampering with a motor vehicle and prior to that on 19 counts of tampering with a motor vehicle. Given his history and his age (he’s now 34), I don’t see him as ever having served or he was a basic training reject.
I hope Bubba and Thor tag tem this shithead, two holing him so long and hard that his ass will look like a well and he’ll have permanent lockjaw.
Hopefully the DA’s office will do a FOIA on this shit bird, for I am also in agreement with your assessment. He had to many run ins with the law to even be considered for the moral waivers that were given out like candy at the time.
Disgusted is the only thing that I feel for this ass hat.
ArmyATC. His flurry of run-ins with the law occurred in a few years, not over an extended period of time. I looked at a case or two and, in one, the docket entry notes that he is awaiting final determination by the VA of a benefit he sought for an “injury sustained while in the military.” Note that the wording does not indicate wound or even that he was on duty when injured, if he was indeed injured. Also, in the same or another case, he was directed into drug treatment. He also was sentenced to seven years in May 2011 but all but a tad of that was suspended (enabling him to allegedly steal donations)and he was placed on five years probation, with a drug testing special condition. Presumably, that probation is current so, if he is convicted of the current charges, he will violate probation (if he has not already) and be eligible to receive the unserved balance of his seven-year sentence, as well as any new sentence he may receive. So, I think he probably was in service and tossed it all away for alcohol, drugs, or both. Now, he’s just crud.
Well, shit. I hate the thought of this turd having actually served. But, as you pointed out, the wording of his “injury” would seem to negate the possibility of a combat wounding. So there’s at least that.