Pucino family: strengthen Stolen Valor Act
You probably remember the story we posted in January about obese POS Brandon Ashraf who impersonated late Army SSG Matthew Pucino on dating websites with Pucino’s Facebook photos. Ashraf was arrested for criminal impersonation, a misdemeanor. Pucino’s surviving family members are pushing to strengthen the Stolen Valor Act passed last year to prevent phonies from profiting from their buffoonery.
“This is the Stolen Valor Act. It doesn’t say stolen money, stolen tangible items, stolen monetary values. It’s talking about Matthew and every other soldier that someone has impersonated out there,” Pucino Haglof said. “Their heroism, their courage, their bravery – that’s what they’re stealing. For someone to take Matthew’s identity and steal it, to the women that he’s portraying himself to, they’re tarnishing his name, his pictures.
“It’s disgraceful. And that’s why it needs to be changed.”
The Supreme Court decided that Stolen Valor is a victimless crime and that’s why Congress rewrote the Act to protect some victims of the crime if they lost money. But, as we’ve seen time and again here at TAH, it is not a victimless crime. Take Phil Monkress, for instance. After we published the short story of his fakery, his wife was so hurt by the lie, she divorced him. We’ve seen families who had to dig up their deceased father because he lied about his military service and wasn’t allowed to be buried in certain cemeteries. Their last memory of their dearly departed was that he was a liar.
Look at the broken-hearted wives and girlfriends who show up here to defend their man only to finally discovered that they were a fool by their lies. And then there are the Pucino sisters whose brother is now linked forever with this scummy garbage. Google Ashraf’s name and Pucino’s photos come up with his in the search results.
Actually, I’m surprised that the prosecutor even charged Ashraf. Most of the time, prosecutors try to find a way to abrogate their responsibilities to prosecute these crimes. When I handed over my research to the Baltimore FBI office on Charles E. Baxter, they didn’t even know what the Stolen Valor Act is, and they told me that I have too much time on my hands. Needless to say, the investigation stopped there.
Maybe if the legislatures put real teeth in the government’s laws, it would make the practice more costly for criminals and not worth their efforts. We keep electing Senators who lied about their service (Richard Blumenthal & Tom Harkin), so it’s really no wonder that no one is paying attention. Everyone supports the laws because they feel good about themselves for doing so, but no one really wants to see these people punished.
Thanks to Mary for the link.
Category: Stolen Valor Act
Victimless crime is another way of saying the cases that should be prosecuted, are not high profile enough for a prosecutor to actually do thier job. They are too worried about how it would look on the resume for promotion.
“Well Jim, I see you have a great record prosecuting stolen valor, but we are going to pass you over because Joe over here actually prosecuted cases that the public had an interest in, after all, stolen valor does not hurt anyone at all.”
Ex-344MP +1
I hear ya. Sadly, what these dipshit prosecutors never realize is that scratch a phony, find a WHOLE LOT of shit underneath.
Screw obamao and the feds. Stolen Valor needs to be taken down from the bottom-up; SV legislation needs to be taken up and passed at the state level in every state in the union, with real teeth and felony time; tar and feather these poser clowns in the very communities they live in…
This got me thinking. Is there a way that I can find out if anyone is using my picture. I can’t Google my name because I share the name of a LCPL killed in Fallujah in 2004 and (deservingly so) all Google brings up is articles on him.
If you have a particular picture in mind, you could do an Image search. That would return results of where that image is being used. tineye is one I’ve used in the past.
When you go to the google image searches start page, there’s a little camera icon in the corner of the place where you type what you want to search. Click on it, and it’ll open a place where you paste the image you want in there and then search it. That’s a google reverse image search; it’ll bring up any place on the internet that photo got used. I’ve used it a couple of times to burn phonies who got random pictures of high-speed operators in the field, stole them, posted them on Facebook or wherever, and claimed it was them in the pictures.
So many people don’t understand the tagged metadata that travels along with a digital image….we see this fairly often in the graphic production business. We will receive images that someone claims are properly licensed and we will discover the owner of the image hasn’t been paid or notified that someone intends to use the image commercially for profit.
Twist, did you try doing your name+place where you live in the search. That will narrow down results of the Google-Fu.
I got stabbed in dallas this past weekend by a valor theif. Met a guy says he’s stationed at ft sill, so I give the guy a beer. His stories started to grow and be just a hair outside of the plausible, so I questioned him on them. He responds by pulling a knife. I got 20 stitches, he learned that fake stories are no match for a real airborne infantryman.
Dude, WTF?? you alright, and where is the fuckstick poser who stabbed you?
Yeah, I hope you’re OK. 20 stitches, holy shit, I only had twenty five when they took my gall bladder out. I hope he’s rotting in a cell. If you need something, give us a holler.
Thank GOD you’re posing means you’re (relatively) OK?! So Sorry Smitty.
HOpe that piece of crap gets cornholed by Bubba.
Dude…glad you are okay now…I’ve seen someone die from a wound that would have required less stitches…
Your experience confirms what everyone always says here that the lies are always just the tip of the iceberg for criminal behavior…
I hope this ass nugget is locked up and facing attempted murder charges…
I’m fine, takes a lot more then a little knife to take me down. The guy currently has a broken nose and shattered left eye socket. Detective assigned to the case in dallas doesn’t seem to interested with the “victim” being from out of state. I gave the boy a solid lecture on the error of his ways holding him at his own knife point. My wound is upper left outer arm, not that bad really. As Jonn has said many times, stolen valor is just a sign of greater criminal behavior
Glad to hear you’re OK and the little shit suffered for what he did to you! The State of Texas DOESN’T take it easy on criminals, so I assume that as soon as he/it is fit to be put in General Population, Buuba, Thor, & Company are gonna literally straighten his ass out while he/it *SQUUUUUEEEAALLS!*!
Must admit, the look of pure terror on his face after I put him down and took his knife was priceless. I don’t think he will be telling his stories for a while.
Smitty…Bravo Zulu and I’m so glad you’re okay!
Geez, Smitty, I hope you’re okay.
20 stitches? Well, now you can look at people and say ‘Tis but a scratch.’
Ex, that’s what I told the ER while I was being stitched up. I got a better knife scar fighting the MPs outside the barracks of the 1/509
Glad that you are doing good. Thank you for being there to teach a lesson to that poser, though. Hoo-ah. (Or however it’s spelled!)
@Smitty: Holy cow. I hope you’re ok, and that the poser got some quality police time.
We have this Stolen Valor Act at the federal level which is pretty limited and clearly is left on the books without getting used at all. I’m pretty shocked that the freakin’ FBI office in Baltimore thinks so little of it, despite the fact it is so easy to put together a case, and Jonn handed one to them on a silver platter!
In addition to being a stand alone charge, Stolen Valor should be a sentencing enhancement, much like being a member of a criminal gang is. Mandatory extra 3 years in prison plus restrictions on presenting themselves as a poser: If they poser up again, it would be considered a parole or probation violation.
Also, is there a list of which states have their own laws on Stolen Valor and what they entail? For instance, my crazy state (California) has one on the books, and my non-lawyer reading of it is that if you’re caught posing, it’s a misdemeanor (and automatic boot if you’re an elected official). It’s clear that at the Federal level, the DoJ is not willing to walk the talk, but if every state has something similar on the books, any local DA can take up the case.
The issue becomes overloaded DAs looking to clear cases. In Mass we have mandatory sentencing parameters for possession of illegal firearms, it is typically the first charge dropped to gain a plea deal with an offender to get that offender to plead guilty.
Laws that aren’t prosecuted are worse than stupid laws in my opinion.
AMEN TO THAT, VOV!!
As we have been told repeatedly, it’s the tip of the iceberg. If it leads to other, more serious issues, it’s an opening, more than anything else.
The SV act allows it to be an added charge. If the SV thief is involved in identity theft for the purpose of committing fraud, as with the Pucino famkily member, or other, more serious things, then it should be included in the charges.
I agree with the FBI in Baltimore that you all have too much time on your hands! I can see going after this one guy but you guys say you’re happy breaking up families and most of the times you are doing it with lies! By posing as fake people on FB! Making your story fit for your own personal idea about someone! I think the FBI nailed it on the head when they told you that your going after people who have FB accounts and embellish themself!
You’re tring to make it against the law for 1st amendment freedom of speech if someone lies about their military service when the stolen valor act is more about guys who wear ribbons they haven’t earned on a offical military uniform, and then try to profit through being hired, getting free things to make people feel sorry for them. Yet all your posts are on guys who said one thing or another, I don’t see them wearing fake ribbons on a offical uniform or profiting through their embellishment!
Gee, thanks for playing, but could you please clarify a couple of things for us. I got the part about you thinking that it is OK for folks to lie about their military service. But you think that it is not OK for us to tell the truth about peoples’ military service?
You say that what we say are lies, but it’s OK for liars to lie if it is about their own lack of military service, but not for someone else to lie about their military service? Or what? Looks like if you support liars, you would not castigate others who lie, and if you actually thought we were lying that you would support us.
Therefore, the only conclusion which can be drawn is that you know that we are telling the truth and that is what you object to. Lying is fine but telling the truth should not be covered by the First Amendment. Is that you position? Sure sounds like what you said. Sort of.
Nough said
Completely agree that each state needs it’s own version of a Stolen Valor Act. Guess we each need to get busy to make certain that our states have them.