Woman who faked combat service, child's cancer sentenced in Northeast Georgia court
A 31-year-old woman who created a fake life of having a child with terminal cancer and earning a Purple Heart for injuries she sustained in combat was sentenced to two years in prison on Sept. 7 in Franklin County Superior Court.
Gabrielle Beutler, who became post commander earlier year for the VFW Post 5897 in Lavonia, entered guilty pleas to impersonating a military veteran, forgery and felony first-degree cruelty to children.
Northern Circuit District Attorney Parks White said Friday that Beutler’s prison term will be followed by 15 years on probation, and includes paying restitution, the amount which has not yet been determined.
VFW post commander in Lavonia arrested by GBI for mispresenting her veteran status
Beutler had moved to Georgia from Las Vegas, Nev., where White said she had fabricated a similar ruse to gain membership into a VFW post.
She was arrested by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in late August, but the case was disposed quickly when White said her defense lawyer approached the district attorney office offering a guilty plea in return for a probationary sentence.
However, White said he would not take a probationary sentence based on what happened to Beutler’s 9-year-old child, who was led to believe she had cancer. Although the child was not physically harmed, her head was shaved and she was the subject of fundraisers by the VFW and a GoFundMe page, according to White.
“She had money raised on her behalf for her daughter’s cancer treatment, but her daughter did not have cancer,” White said.
“The little girl still loves her mother very much, but doesn’t realize the magnitude of the things her mother did to her for so long,” he said. “This is why the case really resulted in prison.”
The charge of impersonating a military veteran is a misdemeanor, which carried a maximum of 12 months in jail, but no time in a prison, according to White.
Beutler had moved from Nevada and was living at a home in Bowersville, a small town just south of Lavonia. She told members of the VFW she was a U.S. Air Force veteran and a recipient of a Purple Heart medal after she was wounded by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan, according to White.
She also forged a document to obtain a Purple Heart license plate for her vehicle, White said.
VFW members became suspicious of Gabrielle Beutler's military background
However, White said the woman’s story began to unravel after some VFW members, including Lavonia police officer Jonathan Merck -- himself a veteran wounded in Iraq -- became suspicious of her military background, according to White.
Beutler related facts about her service and how she was wounded that Merck felt was “impossible” and other matters “that didn’t add up,” White said.
Merck also found discrepancies on her military release papers, White said.
Merck then approached the district attorney’s office about these suspicions, the prosecutor said.
White noted that Merck while serving in the war had a close friend who served with the military police and was killed in the same bombing that Merck was wounded.
In an interview with WYFF TV from Greenville, S.C., Merck noted that when Beutler was arrested a set of handcuffs that belonged to his friend were used to take her in custody.
“I only saw it fitting that someone who claimed to be a Purple Heart recipient and combat veteran and a security forces officer in the Air Force to be handcuffed with handcuffs that belong to an actual American hero,” Merck told the TV reporter.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Hart County woman who lied to become VFW post commander in Lavonia sentenced
