PAUL ALAN WHITE
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The Houston Chronicle - April 26, 2003 Edition
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/1884713 Fake Marine sentenced to eight months in prisonA Houston man who posed as a highly decorated war hero was sentenced Friday to eight months in federal prison. Paul Alan White, 47, had pleaded guilty in December to unlawfully wearing the Marine Corps uniform of a chief warrant officer 3 and a Navy Cross, Silver Star, Purple Heart and Vietnam Service ribbon. In January, he pleaded guilty to altering military discharge papers. U.S. District Judge Sim Lake sentenced White to six months each for wearing the uniform and medals and to eight months for altering the military document, with the sentences to run concurrently. White must also serve one year of under supervision upon his release, undergo mental health counseling and pay $6,000 in fines. Man who impersonated war hero pleads guilty
(12/4/02 - HOUSTON) — An ex-Marine who pretended to be a Vietnam War hero pleaded guilty Wednesday to wearing a warrant officer's uniform adorned with some of the military's highest medals for valor that he didn't earn. But Paul Alan White, 47, of Houston still
faces trial on federal charges of forging a document to receive a
Texas license plate reserved for veterans who earned medals for
bravery.
White, who also is accused of violating his parole on a conviction
of credit card fraud, admitted to have illegally worn a warrant
officer uniform adorned with the Navy Cross, the Silver Star and the
Purple Heart.
The Navy Cross is second only to the Medal of Honor as the Navy's
highest honor for heroism. The Silver Star is awarded for bravery in
combat, and the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds received in combat.
White served in the Marines from 1973 to 1976, but prosecutors say
his records show he never achieved a rank higher than sergeant and did
not serve in Vietnam or in combat. He has a federal conviction for
impersonating a CIA agent.
White faces up to six months in prison and $5,000 fine. His trial
on three counts of falsifying documents in relation to the license
plate is slated for Jan. 21. Prosecutors say he claimed on those
documents that he earned the medals he illegally wore.
On those charges, he faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine of
$250,000. 11/11/2002 A former Marine accused of inventing a breathtaking
military career for himself then decorating it, and his
chest, with some of the Navy's highest awards for valor,
won't be marching in the Veterans Day parade today.
"He may get to watch it on one of those communal
televisions up there," in the jail, said U.S. Attorney
Michael Shelby.
Paul Alan White, 47, of the 2100 block of Tanglewilde,
was arrested without incident at his home about 10:30 a.m.
Sunday. He is in jail charged with impersonating a decorated
war hero and forging his military discharge papers to show
rank and awards he never earned.
An affidavit filed in the case by HPD Sgt. P.J.
Schneider, who is assigned to an FBI-HPD task force, says
White has repeatedly worn the uniform of a U.S. Marine Corps
Warrant Officer.
White adorned his unearned uniform with the Navy Cross,
second only to the Medal of Honor as the Navy's highest
award for heroism, the Silver Star, which is awarded for
extraordinary heroism in combat, and the Purple Heart, which
is awarded for wounds received in combat.
White also wore a Vietnam Service Ribbon, indicating
combat duty in that country.
In real life, White served in the Marine Corps from
November 1973 to November 1976 and achieved the rank of E-5,
Shelby said. He said White was never overseas, and never saw
combat during his military service.
White used his phony uniform and awards to make himself
an honored guest at Marine functions, such as the Marine
Corps birthday celebration at the Veterans Administration
Hospital in November 2001, and a Marine birthday ball at a
Houston hotel a few days later.
White, an office manager for a Houston accounting firm,
does not have the lengthy and distinguished military career
he claimed. He does, however, have a lengthy criminal
record.
Since 1981 White, who has also used the name Jonathan
Davenport, has been convicted of unlawfully carrying a
weapon, credit card fraud, forgery and theft.
White is currently on parole from the 40-year prison term
he received for his last case, a theft conviction in 1991.
Shelby said it is illegal to wear a military medal to
which you are not entitled. That offense is a misdemeanor,
he said.
But White also forged his military discharge papers to
show rank and accomplishments that were not his, in order to
obtain a Texas Legion of Valor license plate for his
vehicle, officials said.
With the forgery, Shelby said, White "crossed the
line between immorality and illegality," and faces up
to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if
convicted.
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