Woman claiming to be sick and wounded Marine gets nearly 6 years in prison

A Rhode Island woman who posed as a sick war veteran to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits and charitable donations has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison. The Justice Department said on Tuesday.

Sarah Jane Kavanaugh, who never served in the US military, claimed she was a Purple Heart and Bronze Star Marine who was hit by an IED in Iraq. Kavanaugh, 32, also claimed she developed service-related cancer.

Kavanaugh was indicted on charges of using false or counterfeit military discharge certificates, wire fraud, fraudulently impersonating a medal recipient with intent to obtain money, property, or other material gain, and aggravated identity theft in March 2022. In August 2022, she pleaded guilty to several of these charges, including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, forgery of a military discharge certificate, and fraudulent use of military medals.

On Tuesday, she was sentenced to 70 months in prison, followed by a three-year supervised release.

As part of her sentencing, Kavanaugh will have to pay $284,796.82 that she fraudulently obtained.

Kavanaugh worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs at the Rhode Island Veterans Affairs Medical Center. According to a Justice Department press release, Kavanaugh used her position there to “misappropriate veterans’ identities, combat experience, disease diagnoses, and prowess to develop schemes for their own enrichment.”

CBS News previously reported that Kavanaugh received $207,000 from the Wounded Warrior program to pay for groceries and physical therapy. She also received approximately $18,500 in financial assistance from a program in Virginia for mortgage payments, home repairs, gym memberships, and other bills, as well as $4,700 from a fundraising website. She received another $16,000 from CreatiVets, a veteran art therapy charity. Kavanaugh also used her fraudulent cancer diagnosis to get months of paid leave from federal employee benefit programs.

The Justice Department said Kavanaugh also took on a leadership role in the veterans community, acting as commanding officer of the Rhode Island Foreign War Veterans Post and giving speeches in full U.S. Marine Corps uniform with medals she didn’t earn, but instead purchased. online.

The Justice Department called Kavanaugh’s behavior “almost everyday criminal behavior.” Court documents claimed she worked “methodically and prudently” in committing crimes “some of the most reprehensible seen in this county by a defendant of fraud.”

Kavanaugh was caught after the Providence Veterans Association launched an investigation after local organization HunterSeven, which helps veterans with cancer, was suspicious of Kavanaugh’s pleas for help.

“Sarah Kavanaugh’s behavior in her scheme is outrageous,” U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Cunha said in a Justice Department press release. “Boldly proclaiming the honor, service and self-sacrifice of true veterans, this defendant took advantage of the charity and decency of others for her unscrupulous financial gain. I am grateful that with today’s verdict, she has been brought to justice and will face the consequences of her actions.”

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