A judge in Montana ordered two men be publicly shamed after they attempted to get a lesser sentence by pretending to be war veterans.
Ryan Morris, 28, and Troy Nelson, 33, both pretended to be veterans in a bid to get their cases moved to a Veterans Court where they would receive lighter sentences. But the plot backfired, and they now have a litany of other tasks to complete as part of their sentences.
At their Friday sentencing in Cascade County Court, Judge Greg Pinski gave Morris 10 years for violating his felony burglary probation and gave Nelson five years for drug possession. Three years of both of their sentences were suspended.
But, before either man is eligible for parole, Pinski ordered that they must hand write each name of the 6,756 Americans killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Morris and Nelson also must write out the obituaries of the 40 Montanans killed in those conflicts and send handwritten letters to a number of veterans’ groups apologizing for their actions.
Furthermore, during the suspended years of their sentence, every Memorial and Veterans Day the two must stand at the Montana Veterans Memorial in Great Falls for eight hours wearing a sign that reads, “I am a liar. I am not a veteran. I stole valor. I have dishonored all veterans.”
They also must perform 441 hours of community service, equal to the number of Montanans killed during the Korean war.
