Robert E. Brooks sentenced for Stolen Valor
We got the news yesterday that Robert Brooks was sentenced in Davenport, Iowa. We’ve been following the case for more than a year, before he was arrested, when we got a FOIA on him and his amazing collection of awards.
Here’s his FOIA;
He was charged with stealing valor;
According to WQAD, this is what was wrong with those records;
According to the sentencing documents, Brooks admitted to falsely reporting he had received the following awards and decorations:
Silver Star Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, a Purple Heart with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters, and a Combat Infantry Badge. Brooks also admitted that his records falsely included the following: Distinguished Flying Cross with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, Bronze Star Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Airmen Medal with a 57, an Oak Leaf Cluster and “V,” Army Commendation Medal with “V,” Navy Good Conduct, Navy Pistol Expert, Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with star, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign w/ Bar, Republic of Vietnam Honor 1st Class, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, Navy Unit Commendation, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Presidential Unit Citation, (Army) Presidential Unit Citation, (Army) Meritorious Unit Citation, (Army) Valorous Unit Citation, Republic of Vietnam Combat Action Ribbon, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Republic of Vietnam Air Service, Vietnam Air Cross Gallantry w/ Silver Wings, Army Overseas Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Army NCO Proficiency Development, Naval Parachutist Badge, Naval Aviator Badge, Navy Aircrew Member Wings, Army Parachutist Badge, Republic of Vietnam Parachutist Badge, and Pathfinder Badge.
Brooks had also made up a story about being shot down in Vietnam and becoming a Prisoner of War which wasn’t true.
It looks like Brooks added all of the extraneous BS while he was hand-carrying his record from station-to-station, but veterans in his local veterans’ group started asking questions which led to an investigation. Things got hot when the National Personnel Records Center got involved and discovered that their records were wrong.
At first, Brooks denied that he’d made it all up, but when he couldn’t produce any proof for his awards, it all came tumbling down.
From Quad City Times;
A Vietnam War veteran from Davenport who admitted that he purchased numerous military awards without authorization was sentenced Tuesday to five years of probation and a $5,000 fine.
“I’m sorry for my part in all this,” Robert E. Brooks Jr. said in a short statement in U.S. District Court, Davenport.
Brooks, 70, said he “didn’t mean to harm” other veterans or other veterans before Judge Stephanie Rose handed down the sentence.
He pleaded guilty on March 28 to purchasing military awards and decorations without authorization, a misdemeanor that carries a potential sentence of up to a year in prison.
Per the plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of no more than five years’ probation.
His case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, so some prosecutors ain’t playin’, finally.
Our sources tell us that the Veterans’ Affairs Office of the Inspector General have opened a case on him, too.
These guy think that if they can get phony information on their DD214s, they’re golden. This case proves that’s not true.
Category: Phony soldiers, Valor Vultures
five years of probation and a $5,000 fine.
Really??
You can’t dig a fucking hole and throw his happy ass in there for a while?? 30 days 6 months a year?
WTFF?!?!?
Well it’s better than nothing.
Which is what we usually get.
And who has $5,000 just lying around to toss back at the courts?
Birdbath certainly doesn’t.
Splash. Out.
This makes me smile.
And while jail time would be nice, five years of probation ain’t no joke, either.
Indeed. One of our lawyer readers can correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that could mean he’s now a convicted felon. Would have to see the specific crimes for which he was charged to know for sure, though.
According to the article, the crime was a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year incarceration. So, no felony conviction.
I did say “could mean he’s now a convicted felon” – not is.
What you say is true – if multiple counts of that crime were the only crimes for which he pleaded guilty and probation was imposed consecutively totaling 5 years, that would mean he is not a felon. However, news articles have been in error or incomplete before.
Alternatively, he could have pleaded guilty to an additional crime not mentioned in the article which is a felony. Falsification of records (18 USC 1519) could possibly be in play – I believe the article also says Brooks knowingly provided bogus stuff to a third party who included that bogus info in his records. That could constitute falsification of records and/or conspiracy to do same (if the other party helped him willingly vice unwittingly).
18 USC 1519 appears to be a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
We’d need to see the plea deal to know definitively exactly what crimes to which the man pleaded guilty.
“Brooks pled guilty under the Stolen Valor Act to purchasing medals without proper authorization…” That’s from the US Attorney’s rather lengthy press release. The release made clear that he screwed with Army records long ago that the Navy later relied upon. He didn’t merely embellish his service. He caused records to be altered with bogus entries and then happily furnished the bullshit to inquirers. The AG did a helluva job ensuring that the lies were out there on the record and let him get away with nothing. Now, at 70, he is announced everywhere as a liar and must now report to a probation agent for years. He cannot possess a firearm and must pay $5K, plus whatever other fees are for probation supervision. This, to me, was an excellent outcome.
If he defrauded the VA – most likely with all the PH’s and other valor awards, the he is about to be a convicted felon, and will probably have to pay much more than $5K and do some time in the federal pokey.
I’m pretty certain that if he defrauded the VA, he would have been charged this go-around with that too. He wasn’t.
I’m not, 2/17 Air Cav. Whether he received VA bennies he doesn’t rate (or submitted a false claim to obtain same) may simply not have been investigated – yet.
Of course, if the VA OIG is the agency doing the investigation, I can’t say I’ll hold my breath waiting for justice on that score either. How many years have they known about the Chippendale SEAL – and done nothing?
Maybe he’ll get early onset senile dementia.
Kinda late for early onset…. Creutzfeldt-Jakob could make up for the lost time though.
Asswipe…
I’m confused by what I read and what I saw on the documents.
What awards did he actually receive?
Was he really a helicopter pilot, or was he discharged while a student at the Warrant Officer’s school?
Interestingly (to me), he and I are the same age, we were in the United States Army at the same time, and served in the old Republic of Viet Nam at the same time.
19 years of active dity and discharged? This guy was a fuckup from the floor up.
You could say that. His last DD214 can be viewed here:
http://valorguardians.com/blog/?attachment_id=58676
That doc seems to indicate he was discharged under “OTHER THAN HONORABLE CONDITIONS” for “MISCONDUCT – COMMISSION OF A SERIOUS OFFENSE” (caps in original).
I can’t say for sure, but I’d bet long odds his embellished “war hero” status convinced his chain-of-command to allow him to resign in lieu of facing trial by court-martial.
Could be Hondo, I was thinking it also could be he was convicted or facing conviction for something he did outside of the military. Either way it had to be something pretty serious to get bounced like that.
You would think if you left the military in shame the last thing you would want to do is play dress up.
Hopefully the VA’s case against him nails him for more of his felonious crap he’s pulled. He’s been a liar for a long time, and lied about being “sorry” when he was sentenced.
ROBERT E. BROOKS got his ass kicked out of the Navy for being a shitbag… and he’s still a shitbag.
Enjoy your fame, ROBERT E. BROOKS.
This bust took a lot of work. Congrats and hand Salute to you folks in the SV community who grabbed this BS artist by the throat and did not let go. Outstanding!!!
Pukes, friggin’ pukes every last stinkin’ one of ’em…
Bunch of nogo POG’s…
Note to embellishers:
This is what happens when you strap on an NCOPDR without going to BLC/PLDC, etc./sarc
To answer the question posed above (was he discharged while a student at the Warrant Officer’s School), here’s the skinny:
Upon completion of the WOC Program, you are administratively discharged from the enlisted ranks to accept an appointment as a USAR Warrant Officer. That’s why a Discharge on the enlisted 2-1 form. A new 2-1 is then started for service as a Warrant Officer.
You are 100 percent on that if I hadn’t gotten a bo bo. I was going WOC for logistics
It’s so hard for these turds to understand that one
I thought of doing that back in my day. Would have went into being a QM (761A) WO. But, no slots ever came open to try and submit a packet, so I stayed enlisted.
Those were the days when you didn’t have to go to finishing school to become a Warrant. If it had went through, I would have been walking around one day as an SFC, then the next day would have pinned on W-2 bars and went to work from there.
But it’s all good, I was meant to be a NCO, not a PT avoider.
Cocksucker.
Things not to think about when sucking prison cock
“Tastes like chicken”
Holden
Hell has frozen over I never thought the Feds would ever prosecute anyone for SV I’m wrong
Enjoy the bob wire hotel you have earned it
Bye Dipshit, don’t come back.
VA OIG, huh?
I am sure they will recommend his disability be increased.
Maggots.
All of them.
Robert E. Brooks looks like he’s wearing a thong…around his neck. Just sayin’
It’s a “banana hammock”… for those days when he “likes working it” behind the Flying J truckstop.
I am confused to all hell. How does he have a bunch of Army helicopter time listed when most of his time was in the Navy. I don’t see any time at Ft Rucker where Army does rotor wing training. I don’t see Whiting or Corpus for any fixed wing training which all Navy Pilots get for primary training regardless if they fly egg beaters for a career.
How can he get all that fake shit on his records?
His other DD214s are here. Short version: he was Army enlisted, went to Flight School, got a warrant, and spent a while in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot.
http://valorguardians.com/blog/?attachment_id=58678
http://valorguardians.com/blog/?attachment_id=58675
FWIW: prior to its consolidation at Rucker, at least 2 other installations had a “piece” of Army Aviation training. In particular, Fort Wolters, TX, did initial flight training for quite a while; Hunter AAF did at least some Advanced Training for a while as well.
Slap on wrist. I doubt he’ll learn too much from this.
“I’m sorry for my part in all this,” Robert E. Brooks Jr. said …”
Well, hell’s bells, who else had a part in it, dingus? Can’t say he isn’t committed to this foolishness. It appears to have started decades earlier.
Bullshittery to resume in 3 – 2 – 1
Nothing says “badass black-ops’Nam -Vet” like 80s era BDUs….Jackass.