Phony War Hero Goes to Jail

Phony war hero to spend veteran holidays working in jail
by Aisling Swift

NAPLES–Collier Circuit Judge Fred Hardt, a former U.S. Navy lieutenant commander, served three years in the Judge Advocate General as a trial counsel. 

So when he heard the plea bargain negotiated for Raymond John Gauthier, an East Naples man who pretended to be a highly decorated military veteran and prisoner of war, the judge halted Assistant State Attorney Jerry Brock as he outlined the terms.

The plea bargain required Gauthier, 72, of 2250 Spruce St., to publish an apology in the Naples Daily News and to pay $88. But there was no probation or community service.

“I don’t think these conditions mean anything,” Hardt said to Brock and defense attorney Timothy Moffitt as 14 veterans, some former POWS and missing in action veterans in uniform, sat in court in a show of opposition to the deal…

“Can the court give us some indication of what you’re looking for?” Brock asked.

Hardt smiled and handed Brock and Moffitt a two-page document outlining his terms.

Gauthier must serve five years of probation and turn in any fake military awards, ribbons, medals, certificates, and uniforms. During probation, he can’t wear any military medals, awards or uniforms, and must submit to searches of his home by state Department of Corrections personnel, who will make sure he’s adhering to the conditions.

And during probation, Gauthier must work 10 days in the county jail — on each Memorial Day and Veterans Day through 2011.

Brock looked at it, smiled and walked over to the investigator, Matt Willard, a deputy with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office Economic Crimes Division, who raised his eyebrows as he read the conditions.

Then Brock showed Jay Jones, district commander for the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 696, who sat with 14 military veterans, some in uniform and wearing POW-MIA emblems.

Jones read through the terms. “I’m in love with this guy,” Jones exclaimed, referring to Hardt.

“He’s going to be pissed off when he sees that. It breaks my heart,” Jones said of Gauthier, who was in a conference room discussing the terms with Moffitt.

Gauthier was first exposed last year when he went to Homer Helter’s military shop at 5510 Shirley St. in Naples and asked to have his medals mounted. When Helter examined Gauthier’s DD-214, an official military records form, he spotted spelling errors and alerted Jones, who looked into it and reported Gauthier.

Veterans provided the prosecutor with photos showing Gauthier had been wearing a Special Services uniform and Green Beret for several decades here.

After about 15 minutes, the hearing began again and Brock detailed what Gauthier had done to prompt him with being charged on Dec. 27 with common cheating and gross fraud, an offense punishable by up to five years in state prison.

Gauthier pleaded guilty, telling Hardt: “I went to the Department of Motor Vehicles and applied for a POW plate.” He admitted filling out a DD-214. “It was fraudulent,” he said, taking in deep breaths as his attorney patted him on the back.

It was that form, which claimed he was a prisoner of war and listed about 26 medals and awards, including the highest — the Purple Cross, Silver Star and Distinguished Service Cross — that was submitted with his license plate application and led to charges. For the bogus application, he received an $88 discount on his POW plates over a few years.

Gauthier had served in the military and earned a sharpshooter award and the National Defense Service Medal, something all military were given at the time. But he hadn’t served the two decades he’d claimed and was discharged under “less than honorable conditions,” official records show.

Hardt looked closely at the DD-214, listing the bogus honors, one by one as the veterans quietly laughed. “Any of that true, Mr. Gauthier?” Hardt asked.

“Yes, some of it,” Gauthier replied. “A percentage of it.”

“What percentage?”

Gauthier listed a Korean Service Medal, a Good Conduct Medal, and Airborne Wings, as veterans mumbled that he was lying again.

“What about the rest of them? How’d they get on this?” Hardt asked, holding up the crudely typewritten form.

“I put ‘em on,” Gauthier said.

“Why?

“I don’t know, your honor.”

“You don’t know?” Hardt asked incredulously. “Perhaps you need some time to find out why.”

Then he told Jones he could read his victim impact statement. Jones said it all amounted to stealing the honor of all veterans who served their country.

“He’s paraded around in numerous medals he bought,” Jones said. “As a retired U.S. Marine, I truly take this as an insult … to men and women laying their lives on the line every day.”

“I really doubt that Mr. Gauthier thinks this is a big deal,” Jones added, noting that he’d even been seen since his arrest wearing a bogus military cap. Jones pointed out that a judge in California forced a bogus veteran to parade around with a sign saying he was a fraud and suggested Gauthier do that for one month on Fifth Avenue South.

The judge smiled and adjudicated Gauthier guilty, imposing five years’ probation, with all his conditions.

“The Department of Corrections shall have the ability to search your home to ensure compliance,” Hardt warned.

Gauthier also had to pay the county tax assessor the $88 discount, in addition to $854 for court, investigation and prosecution costs. Gauthier was then fingerprinted by a deputy and walked out.

When asked if he did it, as some say, because he was lonely and wanted attention, he pooh-poohed that, declining any comment. His attorney also declined comment, while Brock praised the judge’s terms.

“He had some special conditions he felt were appropriate,” Brock said, adding he was initially concerned the state statute wasn’t broad enough to cover that, but the judge was confident.

Jones and the other veterans were happy and plan to pursue charges under the federal Stolen Valor Act of 2005, which President George W. Bush signed into law Dec. 20. It broadens an earlier federal statute and targets unauthorized wearing, manufacture or selling of military decorations and medals. Convicts face a prison term, a fine, or both.

Jones said he was proud of Hardt for not accepting the plea bargain.

Veteran Frank Ward called Gauthier’s actions a disgrace to all vets.

“I was just glad the judge gave him a little more than a slap on the wrist,” Ward said.

Mike Viechec, an 84-year-old World War II veteran, spotted the fraud from the beginning.

“He was rambling on and on,” Viechec said, adding that when he confronted Gauthier on dates of service, Gauthier claimed his “memory was shot” due to war conditions.

Viechec said he was glad for all veterans, alive and dead and added: “If they could only speak out from their graves, they would be happy.”

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