PA Toughens Penalties for Stolen Valor Violations
(Fox News) - Over the past year or so, we've brought you several alleged instances of stolen valor, in which a person is accused of impersonating a U.S. service member.
An incident at a Pennsylvania mall went viral last year, and now the state hasintroduced even harsher penalties.
Under the new law, the penalty for falsely claiming a veteran's designation on a driver's license will be up to one year in jail and result in up to $2,500 in fines.
About 190,000 people applied for the designation, but an audit showed that more than 350 applicants were not qualified for it.
Other alleged stolen valor cases have popped up at an airport in California, a Florida bar, and in a recent case of a man pretending to be a SEAL Team Six member.
In some cases, the phonies were panhandlers looking to dupe passersby into giving them money, while others have been accused of wearing a military uniform to obtain a discount.
However, in one instance in Pennsylvania recently, a Marine veteran was loudly accused of being a phony by a soldier and a police officer.
The soldier claimed the Marine veteran's uniform was fishy, but it turned out the 75-year-old had indeed served in the Marine Corps from 1958-64.