Cornwall man sentenced for stolen valour in U.S.
A Cornwall, Ont., man is facing two years of probation for violating the U.S. Stolen Valor Act by falsifying his military discharge certificate and claiming to have been awarded medals he was not, including a Purple Heart.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Upstate New York, Randall J. Montour, 45, admitted he altered his discharge papers to say he'd received an honourable discharge from the United States Air Force, and earned honours including medals, badges and ribbons that he hadn't.
The district court said Montour claimed to have received a Purple Heart, a medal honouring those wounded or killed in action.
According to the court, those claims were fabrications and he was sentenced last month after entering a guilty plea in February.
Discharged for bad conduct
The court said military records revealed Montour had received a "bad conduct discharge" from the Air Force in 2001, and was only awarded the Air Force Training Ribbon during his service.
The court had previously said he was court-martialed in 2000 for impersonating an officer and making threats, leading to the bad conduct discharge.
As part of his guilty plea, Montour also admitted to having used his altered documents to purchase licence plates indicating he's a Purple Heart recipient and affixing them to his vehicle.
He also appeared at veterans' events wearing the U.S. Air Force uniform of a non-commissioned officer, a rank he never achieved, while wearing medals and other honours he hadn't earned, according to the district court's release.
Montour was sentenced to 200 hours of community service and a $10,000 fine.
While Montour lives in Cornwall, the Northern District of New York will supervise his probation and he is expected to perform his community service in that region, according to a spokesperson from the U.S. Attorney's office.
