Alleged Marine impostor pleads not guilty

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Alleged Marine impostor pleads not guilty

The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Nov 17, 2009 15:28:03 EST

DENVER — A man who brought attention to homeless veterans in Colorado Springs has pleaded not guilty to charges of lying about being a decorated veteran.

Thirty-two-year-old Richard Glen Strandlof faces five federal misdemeanor counts under the Stolen Valor Act, which makes it illegal to make false claims of having military decorations. He was in court Monday.

Investigators say Strandlof claimed he was a Marine captain named Rick Duncan who had lost four men under his command in an attack in Iraq, was wounded there, and earned a Purple Heart and a Silver Star.

Strandlof later allegedly told an investigator he never served in the military.

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Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack, left, comforts Richard Glen Strandlof at a Sept. 11 memorial in 2008 at the Pioneers Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo. Strandlof, the founder of a Colorado Springs-based veteran’s organization, is accused of fabricating an identity as a former Marine captain who served three tours in Iraq and was at the Pentagon on 9/11.

Carol Lawrence / The Gazette via AP Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack, left, comforts Richard Glen Strandlof at a Sept. 11 memorial in 2008 at the Pioneers Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo. Strandlof, the founder of a Colorado Springs-based veteran’s organization, is accused of fabricating an identity as a former Marine captain who served three tours in Iraq and was at the Pentagon on 9/11.

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