CASCADE COUNTY, Mont. – Two men who pretended to be military veterans were sentenced to some very interesting punishments in Montana Friday, KRTV reports.
As the Great Falls Tribune explains, Ryan Patrick Morris, 28, and Troy Allan Nelson, 33, were appearing before Judge Greg Pinski for violating the terms of deferred or suspended sentences they had received in two separate and unrelated cases.
In those cases, both had claimed to be military veterans in an attempt to get lesser sentences and be allowed to enter the judge’s Veterans Treatment Court. On Friday, Pinski—who read the names of Montanans who died while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan—sentenced both to prison, plus some additional requirements once they’re out before they can be considered for parole:
- For each Memorial Day and Veterans Day while they are under court supervision, they must appear at the Montana Veterans Memorial ceremony wearing signs reading: “I AM A LIAR. I AM NOT A VETERAN. I STOLE VALOR. I DISHONORED ALL VETERANS.”
- They must hand-write the 6,756 names of Americans who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- They must hand-write the 40 obituaries of Montanans who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- They must complete 441 hours of community service.
- They must write apology letters to the American Legion, AmVets, Disabled American Veterans, the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Vietnam Veterans of America.
(Neither was officially charged with stolen valor, but many others have been.)
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