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FALSE CLAIM OF VIETNAM SERVICE NETS OHIO POLITICO

350 HOURS SERVICE IN VA HOSPITAL -- "I did not

serve in Vietnam. I have lived a lie."

For more about phony vets and wannabes, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
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Story here... http://news.cincypost.
com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2
0071011/NEWS01/710110365

Story below:

-------------------------

False Vietnam claim proves costly

By Paul A. Long
Post staff reporter

The former head of the Boone County Republican Party will have to volunteer hundreds of hours in a Veterans Affairs hospital after he admitted in court Wednesday that he lied about his service in Vietnam during a run for public office last year.

Ed Moore pleaded guilty to a single count of fraud for altering his military discharge record to falsely show the in-country record. In exchange, prosecutors recommended the community service - 350 hours in the next year at a veterans hospital or nursing home.

"The VA hospital service is highly appropriate," said Carroll Commonwealth Attorney Jim Crawford, who was appointed a special prosecutor in the case.

"My idea was to put him in a situation where he could see their suffering and what they went through. That's what he needs to do - spend a little time with them - so he won't take credit for some of the misery they've been through."

Senior Judge Kevin M. Horne approved the agreement during a hearing Wednesday in Boone Circuit Court.

The controversy over Moore's claim forced him to withdraw as his party's candidate for county clerk last year.

State police began investigating after Moore put the altered document on his Web page during the campaign.

Opponents and others questioned Moore's claims and a discrepancy in his service documents.

Shortly afterward, Moore admitted the document showing the Vietnam service was bogus.

"I did not serve in Vietnam," he said in a statement posted on his election Web site when he withdrew from the race. "I have lived a lie."

Despite his withdrawal from the race, Moore still won 11,167 votes, just 118 fewer than his Democratic opponent, Rena Ping.

He declined comment after the hearing Wednesday, instead referring questions to his attorney, Tim Schneider, who said Moore is eager to start his community service.

"It's not only appropriate, but something he feels strongly about," Schneider said.

"I think it's a very fair resolution. ... Ed realizes he made a serious mistake, and regrets it terribly. The idea of giving back something to the veterans is not only an idea he's receptive too, but something we talked about in this case."

He said Moore, who works in sales for a local company, is a veteran, with Army service from 1967 to 1973.

Crawford said he took that into account in fashioning an appropriate sentence. "I had to figure out some way to get the point across to him that this was absolutely unacceptable," Crawford said.

"He had previously lived a pretty exemplary life. He got himself in an unfortunate situation I can't understand."

Moore touted his service during his campaign, saying he had spent two years and six months in Vietnam.

He pointed to his discharge record, which showed the service, along with two medals Moore had received for being in Vietnam.

But that document conflicted with the one Moore had used five years earlier - and which was on file in the county clerk's office - to obtain a special license plate. That document showed he served only seven days overseas - all in Europe - while he was in the Army.

A Boone County grand jury indicted Moore on a charge of changing that document - known as a DD 214 - to show the service in Vietnam.

The charge carried a penalty of up to five years in prison.

THE TERMS

If he fails to follow through on the community service, Ed Moore faces 2½ years in prison and a $1,000 fine. If he completes the service, the charge will be dismissed, and his record could be expunged.

-------------------------

Larry Scott  --

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