Martinez native accused of dressing up as hero (Fake Marine w/ Fake Navy Cross )
SFGate ^ | November 12, 2009 | Henry K. Lee
Posted on Thursday, November 12, 2009 4:18:32 PM by csvset
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MARTINEZ -- A Martinez high school graduate will appear in federal court today on charges that he masqueraded as a decorated military veteran after being photographed wearing a host of fake medals, including the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart, authorities said.
Steven Douglas Burton, 39, of Palm Springs was charged last week in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles with unauthorized wearing of military medals or decorations, a misdemeanor. Burton has never served in the military, authorities say. They say he works at a bank in Palm Springs.
He is expected to enter a not-guilty plea today in a Riverside courtroom. An attorney for Burton was not immediately available for comment. Burton was caught with the help of Colleen Salonga, a fellow former classmate at Alhambra High School in Martinez who is an actual Navy commander, authorities said. Salonga saw Burton at their 20th high-school reunion last fall wearing the uniform of a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps, authorities said.
The uniform displayed the Navy Cross, the Purple Heart and other medals, federal prosecutors said.
Suspicious, Salonga went up to Burton and asked to take a picture with him. She turned over the photo to the FBI, authorities said. Investigators confirmed that Burton "had not been a member of any branch of the military or of any armed force and had not been awarded any such decorations, service medals or badges, including the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart," court papers said. "Mr. Burton was blogging on a Web site and claiming to have done multiple tours of duty in the Middle East, both in Afghanistan and Iraq," Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Akrotirianakis said today. "He also claimed to have fought in Fallujah."
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
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