Thanks to other milbloggers who sent this to me, I am posting below the Federal Affidavit that was filed in criminal court this morning against the Stolen Valor Imposter, Michael Patrick McManus. I have taken the liberty to highlight some key facts and surprises in the complaint. I have BOLDED them in the complaint for easy identification.
If this is your first time reading this blog and have no idea what I am talking about, just keep scrolling down or click on the link category above that says “Pitchfork Brigade”
AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF CRIMINAL COMPLAINT
I, Christopher Petrowski, being duly sworn, do hereby depose and state:
I am a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), duly appointed according to law and acting as such. I have been a Special Agent with the FBI for fourteen years, and am currently assigned to the FBI Houston Division Violent Crime Task Force (VCTF). The VCTF is a joint FBI and Houston Police Department task force responsible for the investigation of, among other violent crimes, kidnaping, bank robbery, extortion, serial murder, and Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution. The facts contained in this Affidavit are based upon information provided to me by other law enforcement officers, other witnesses, and my own personal knowledge. Since this Affidavit is made for the limited purpose of supporting a Criminal Complaint, I may have not set forth each and every fact learned during the course of this investigation. Rather, I have set forth only those facts that I believe are necessary to establish probable cause for the crimes charged. Unless otherwise indicated, where actions, conversations, and statements of others are related herein, they are related in substance and in part only.
2. On or about January 19, 2010, I was advised that MICHAEL PATRICK MCMANUS had attended a party for newly elected Houston Mayor, Annise Parker. The party was held on December 12, 2009 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Downtown Houston. MCMANUS was observed by photographer “MMM”, who attended the party as a photographer. MMM, who is a former Sergeant (E-5) in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, noticed MCMANUS was wearing an official appearing United States Army military uniform with numerous military decorations, awards, and badges. MMM further noticed that MCBRIDE was wearing all of the official U.S. military uniform regalia in a non-regulation manner. MMM photographed MCMANUS at the event in his purportedly official U.S. Army uniform and provided those photographs to the FBI.
3. The photographs provided by MMM show an image of an individual, later identified by me as MCMANUS through his Texas Driver’s License and other data sources, wearing a U.S. Army military uniform bearing the rank of Brigadier General. The photographs further shows MCMANUS wearing the following awards:
- a British Commander of the British Empire (worn around his neck),
- a Distinguished Service Cross,
- an Air Medal,
- a Flying Cross,
- a Silver Star,
- a Bronze Star,
- and a Purple Heart.
MCMANUS was also wearing the following U.S. military “earned” insignia, emblems, and devices:
- a British Special Air Service Crest,
- a Combat Infantry Badge with two stars,
- a Master Jump Wings,
- a Helicopter Pilot Badge,
- a Air Assault Wings,
- and a Pathfinder Badge.
4. MCMANUS was previously convicted in U.S. Federal Court in California in 2002, arising out of federal criminal charges originating in Louisiana, for impersonating a U.S. “Air Marshal” and also impersonating a U.S. Army Major, both in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 912, He received a sentence of two years probation, which was later revoked for violations. At the time of his offense relating to those criminal charges, MCMANUS had been wearing an unauthorized U.S. Army Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) of the unearned rank of Major (and with fraudulent U.S. Army identification papers naming him as an Army Captain) with attached unearned patches, insignia, and awards, on board a commercial aircraft in New Orleans and also falsely represented himself to the flight crew as a current member of the U.S. military and an “Air Marshal”, and where he attempted to gain access to the plane’s cockpit. Due to the suspicious nature of his uniform and his suspicious claims to the flight crew, he was not permitted by the flight crew to remain on the flight. He was later arrested in California and convicted of these charges there.
5. Official U.S. military records, which include MCMANUS’ form DD-214, indicate MCMANUS entered on Active Duty with the United States Army on November 11, 1984 and separated on March 31, 1987. During this period, MCMANUS attained the rank of Private First Class and a pay grade of E-1. The form DD-214 further indicates MCMANUS was awarded or authorized to wear only the following awards: an Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon; Expert Marksmanship Badge – Rifle; and Marksman Marksmanship Badge – Pistol. MCMANUS’ type of separation is
Defined on the DD-214 as “Discharge” and the character of service is defined as “Under Honorable Conditions”, which is not the same as an “Honorable Discharge”.
6. On or about January 25, 2010, I attempted to contact MCMANUS at his telephone number 713-869-xxxx. The Lexis/Nexis database indicated this telephone number was associated with the Houston address on MCMANUS’ Texas driver’s license. Based on Harris County Appraisal District records, the residence is owned by Alvin Chan. At the time of MCMANUS’ arrest in January 2002, related to his previous impersonation charges and conviction, MCMANUS stated to investigators that his “domestic partner” was Alvin Chan.
7. About January 25, I called MCMANUS’ telephone number and left a message on what I believed to be his answering machine at his residence located at in Houston, Texas 77008.
8. On January 27, 2010, I received a telephone call from a person claiming to be a Houston attorney (“CF”) who claimed to represent MCMANUS. I told attorney CF I wished to interview MCMANUS regarding his impersonation of a U.S. military officer and I further stated that MCMANUS needed to surrender the uniform, medals, ribbons, devices, and other general evidence he had worn in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 704. Attorney CF admitted that MCMANUS was the person in the subject photographs and that MCMANUS told him he had discarded or destroyed all the evidence (i.e., the uniform, medals, insignia, etc.) allegedly because MCMANUS had become “afraid” when his photograph wearing the unauthorized military uniform and unauthorized military awards was posted on the internet and he became the subject of angry bloggers. At present, I have no way of verifying the truth of attorney CF’s claim regarding MCMANUS purported destruction of all the evidence.
9. Based on all the foregoing information and facts, I believe there is probable cause to believe that on or about December 12, 2009, MICHAEL PATRICK MCMANUS:
- did knowingly possess certain badges or other insignia of a design prescribed by the head of a department or agency of the United States (being the Department of Defense) for use by any officer or employee thereof, or any colorable imitation thereof, without lawful authorization, in violation of 18 United States Code, Section 701; and
- did knowingly, within the jurisdiction of the United
States, without any lawful authority, wear a uniform and/or a distinctive part thereof and/or anything similar to a distinctive part of the uniform of any of the armed forces of the United States, in violation of 18 United States Code, Section 702; and
- did knowingly, within the jurisdiction of the United States, and with the intent to deceive or mislead, wear any naval, military or other official decoration or regalia of any foreign state, nation, or government with which the United States is at peace, or anything so nearly resembling the same as to be calculated to deceive, in violation of 18 United States Code, Section 703; and
- did knowingly wear certain medals and/or decorations authorized by Congress for the armed forces of the United States, or certain of the medals and/or badges awarded to the members of the such armed forces of the United States, and/or certain ribbons, buttons, or rosettes of any badge, decoration, and/or medal, and/or any colorable imitation thereof, except when authorized under regulations made pursuant to law, in violation of 18 United States Code, Section 704(a); and
- did knowingly wear a Distinguished Service Crosses awarded under Section 3742 of Title 10, and a Silver Star awarded under Sections 3746, 6244, or 8746 of Title 10, and a Purple Heart awarded under Section 1129 of Title 10, or any replacement or duplicate medal for such a medals as authorized by law in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 704(d).
CHRISTOPHER PETROWSKI,
Special Agent,
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Houston, Texas
Attachment A To Criminal Complaint
- did knowingly possess certain badges or other insignia of a design prescribed by the head of a department or agency of the United States (being the Department of Defense) for use by any officer or employee thereof, or any colorable imitation thereof, without lawful authorization, in violation of 18 United States Code, Section 701; and
- did knowingly, within the jurisdiction of the United
States, without any lawful authority, wear a uniform and/or a distinctive part thereof and/or anything similar to a distinctive part of the uniform of any of the armed forces of the United States, in violation of 18 United States Code, Section 702; and
- did knowingly, within the jurisdiction of the United States, and with the intent to deceive or mislead, wear any naval, military or other official decoration or regalia of any foreign state, nation, or government with which the United States is at peace, or anything so nearly resembling the same as to be calculated to deceive, in violation of 18 United States Code, Section 703; and
- did knowingly wear certain medals and/or decorations authorized by Congress for the armed forces of the United States, or certain of the medals and/or badges awarded to the members of the such armed forces of the United States, and/or certain ribbons, buttons, or rosettes of any badge, decoration, and/or medal, and/or any colorable imitation thereof, except when authorized under regulations made pursuant to law, in violation of 18 United States Code, Section 704(a); and
- did knowingly wear a Distinguished Service Crosses awarded under Section 3742 of Title 10, and a Silver Star awarded under Sections 3746, 6244, or 8746 of Title 10, and a Purple Heart awarded under Section 1129 of Title 10, or any replacement or duplicate medal for such a medals as authorized by law in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 704(d).
Below is a great article from the Houston Chronicle about McManus whom I have blogged about HERE and HERE. They highlight what his real rank was….he was a Private First Class. Yep, he never even breached the NCO corps.
A Houston man was charged on Friday with allegedly impersonating a U.S. Army general by wearing a uniform decorated with more military honors than earned by famed Gen. George Patton.
The FBI charged 44-year-old Michael P. McManus with five federal misdemeanors, accusing him of unlawfully wearing an unauthorized uniform embellished with some of the U.S. military’s most distinguished combat medals.
“The kicker was the Soldier’s Medal; Patton didn’t have it,” said Doug Sterner, a historian who tracks military honors and “poser” cases. “There’s no comparison. This guy isn’t worthy to lick the dust off George Patton’s boots.”
Real Army rank was PFC
Federal officials said McManus was photographed at a Dec. 12 public gathering at the George R. Brown Convention celebrating Annise Parker’s mayoral victory.
Authorities said McManus was wearing the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star and a Purple Heart, as well as celebrated insignia for pilots and two British military medals.
Officials would not say whether McManus had ever claimed to be a highly decorated U.S. Army general, or if he simply wore the embellished uniform.
McManus, a former private first class who served in the U.S. Army from 1984 to 1987, faces a maximum punishment of three years in federal prison and a fine of up to $120,000.
He is one of about 50 people charged under the 2006 Stolen Valor Act, which makes it a federal crime to falsely claim to have received a medal from the military, regardless of whether the accused does not try to profit from the deception.
Sterner, however, estimates that “tens and tens of thousands” of military imposters are spread about the country. Authentic medals can be legally purchased at military surplus stores.
Web site lists real heroes
Some do it for attention, while others use their claimed status to defraud others, said Sterner, who maintains a Web site that features a searchable database listing names of recipients of high honors.
One man bilked a Veterans Affairs program out of huge sums of money, while a woman received some $40,000 in tuition after telling employees at her university that she was an Air Force pilot flying in Iraq on weekends.
“The vast majority are never even charged or even reported in media,” Sterner said. “Those that are usually get suspended sentences.”
Sterner recalled only one case where the defendant served time.
One man who was sentenced to community service subsequently forged the document showing he completed his community service.
McManus’ case comes at a time when federal courts currently hearing similar cases are trying to decide whether the First Amendment protects people who lie about being famous military heroes.
Posted on 2010 under Blogs, CounterTerrorism, Terrorism |
8
Feb
Several developments over the past week add to my growing sense of pessimism over certain parts of Latin America.
The first is the decision of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez to bring on board a senior Cuban official with a long time specialty in internal security and torture to act as a consultant on Venezuela's energy crisis.
What Ramiro Valdes, one of the four remaining "originals" of the 1959 revolution, can bring on the electrical side is open to question, given that Cuba is not a model of electrical efficiency and management. What he can bring is a strong sense of how to control the internal opposition and make repression more efficient, which is his specialty.
This leads to my second concern. As Chávez grows more beleaguered and under siege, the one card he holds to wreak havoc in the region is his relationship with the FARC in Colombia.
Valdes, the old guerrilla with a strong penchant for supporting armed movements, is a likely candidate to help escalate that relationship at a time when the FARC, a designated terrorist organization, has money from cocaine sales to pay for increased training and access.
Another desperate regime, that of Iran, is also scrambling to survive, and the two friends are likely to jointly seek ways to save themselves while sinking their own countries and others.
A third area of concern is increasing violence in Juarez, Mexico, where I just was. The massacre of the 16 young people has brought to the forefront the sense of despair and hopelessness people feel, and the profound disillusionment with the government and its counter-drug efforts.
When people lose all faith in a government, the situation will be very difficult to reverse. The narcos and allied gangs such as Barrio Azteca and Artistas Asesinos feel a complete sense of impunity that is well-deserved. Less than 2 percent of all homicides in Mexico are ever prosecuted and in Ciudad Juarez the numbers are even lower. The military is widely viewed as corrupt and abusive, the federal police generate little trust and the municipal police are viewed as handmaidens of the cartels.
This leads to the type of terror on the streets of a once lovely city, with 2,600 homicides last year and already on pace to surpass that by a significant amount.
A fourth issue is the eroding freedom of expression across the Bolivarian sectors of Latin America. It was driven home to me after the release of our new report on Ecuador, Ecuador at Risk. Not only has the ordered his ambassador in Washington to see if he can sue us, his government has threatened to try to find my sources.
My full blog is here.
Canucks love their hockey as I do too. There are also some Canadians who love this blog, so for you I put up the following posting which is a good one to read. Now all they need is are some double-doubles and some timbits to round out the game. Only those near or above the border know what I am talking about.
“Attack! Attack! Attack! Attack!” Neither bombs nor rockets – just a spectator yelling during a tight game of the Kandahar Ball Hockey League, played Monday through Friday nights at NATO’s biggest military base in southern Afghanistan.
There’s no ice and no puck, but no matter. Canadian troops still get their ice hockey fix – even in the middle of a war.
Occasional rocket attacks, sudden deployments and other military operations don’t stop the league, which is held twice a year to match six-month stints of Canadian troops who share the base with forces from the United States, Britain and other nations.
“Canadians love their hockey,” said James Stark, a Canadian goalie.
The five-a-side teams, including a goalie in helmet, leg pads, chest pads and gloves, battle with a rubber ball on a concrete-floored rink with wooden sidings in an open slab of desert surrounded by the “Boardwalk,” a walkway lined with stores, coffee shops and restaurants. It’s a social scene, humming with commerce, where soldiers go to relax after a day on duty in the desert.
And maybe catch a little hockey. There are more than two dozen teams drawn from different units in the league’s two divisions, some of them coed and most of them Canadian. The US Marines used to have a team. The Slovaks have one. Some team names are flamboyant – “Dust Devils” and “Desert Dogs” – while others are less so. One is called “Maintenance,” after the Canadian military unit that fixes equipment.
“It’s fairly close, with the way the ball rolls, to ice hockey,” said Master Cpl. Mike Dobson, a “Maintenance” player.
“This is just something to pass the time, more than anything.”
The players keep it serious. Games have two stop-time periods of 15 minutes each, so they last about 45 minutes in total. On Wednesday night, referees in white- and black-striped shirts ejected players for two minutes for a variety of offenses: roughing, high stick, sticking and “unsportsman.”
One referee with a whistle jammed in his lips wore camouflage trousers and military boots.
The Canadian military gym provides the equipment – “just bring your own pair of sneakers, and your own pair of (safety) glasses,” says Dobson – and the rink is about two-thirds as big as a full-size one. The current league began in November and runs through the end of March or early April. After the playoffs, the winners get a trophy and a group photo.
Goalie Stark’s Desert Dogs, a team comprising Canadian civilians that provide services to their nation’s military, lost a hard-fought 4-6 on Wednesday. The cool conditions, though, were a breeze compared to the intense heat that players endure during the summer league, said Stark, who has worked in Afghanistan since April 2008.
Rocket attacks on the Kandahar base, though infrequent, are a troubling sign that the Taliban can still operate on the fringes of the huge base bristling with weapons and other hardware of powerful Western militaries. If an attack happens during a hockey game, it doesn’t hold up the players for long.
In fact, the teams don’t even leave the rink. As the warning siren wails, they hit the floor and press themselves against the wooden sidings. Goalies aren’t very mobile anyway, Stark said.
“It would be a bit of a challenge to run to a bunker with all that gear,” he said. “As soon as the ‘all clear,’ the game picks up again and away we go.”
Posted on 2010 under Blogs, CounterTerrorism, Terrorism |
5
Feb
On the Chehlum day (40 days after the day of Ashura), Pakistan’s port city Karachi has witnessed twin bomb explosions that killed almost 25 people and scores of them injured, mostly from the monitory Shia community. The first explosion occurred in the afternoon when a remote controlled VBIED (Vehicle borne Improvised explosive device) exploded near a passenger bus carrying 30 to 40 Shiite mourners. Initial reports suggested that the blast was a suicide attack and the biker’s suicide jacket contained 15-20 kg of explosive material. However, later officials played down it as remote controlled IED blast.
The second blast, the more strategic one, took place outside the emergency ward at the Jinnah Hospital where injured were being shifted for treatment. Nearly 11 people got killed in the hospital blast which also damaged vehicles at the vicinity. Another live bomb has been recovered from the premises of Jinnah Hospital and later it was defused by the bomb disposal squad. The hospital bombing was carried out only to maximize damage and inflict fear among the relatives of the injured and among the emergency responders (doctors and nurses).
Surprisingly enough, both the attacks took place despite tight security measures were in place for Chehlum Processions across the city. Late December Ashura blast in Karachi had claimed nearly 45 lives. Then, Pro-Taliban elements and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) outfit were blamed for the attack. However, no groups have taken resposibilty for Friday's (Feb 05) twin blasts so far.
Karachi has a history of ethnic tensions, targeted killings and sectarian violence.
This story his the wire today. It seems the Taliban are very upset that the B***h who our courts have convicted of trying to kill US soldiers and they want her back. Below is the story where they are wanting to swap her for PFC Bergdahl or they will execute him. They say he has been tried in their courts and they have found him guilty and have sentenced him to death.
Amazing that they are taking credit for “capturing” Bergdahl, when it is widely known that he just walked off his base. I get the feeling they see no more value in Bergdahl and are looking to use him for one last benefit, which is to free some of their terrorists whom we hold. I don’t think the Taliban have a snowballs chance in hell of getting a swap for anyone. Our country does not normally negotiate with terrorists.
The BOLD emphasis below is mine.
PESHAWAR: The Afghan Taliban on Thursday demanded the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani scientist who has been convicted by the US court on charges of her alleged attempt to murder US soldiers in Afghanistan, and threatened to execute an American soldier they were holding currently. They claimed Aafia Siddiqui’s family had approached the Taliban network through a Jirga of notables, seeking their assistance to put pressure on the US to provide her justice.
“Being Muslims, it becomes our religious and moral obligation to help the distressed Pakistani woman convicted by the US court on false charges,” said a senior Afghan Taliban commander. The commander, whose militant network is holding the US soldier, Bowe Bergdahl, called our sources from an undisclosed location in Afghanistan and threatened to execute the American trooper if their demand was not met. He claimed AafiaSiddiqui’s family had approached the Taliban network through a Jirga of notables, seeking their assistance to put pressure on the US to provide her justice.
“We tried our best to make the family understand that our role may create more troubles for the hapless woman, who was already in trouble. On their persistent requests, we have now decided to include Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s name in the list of our prisoners in US custody that we delivered to Americans in Afghanistan for swap of their soldier in our custody,” explained the militant commander.
He claimed family members of Dr Aafia told the Taliban leadership that they had lost all hopes in the Pakistan government and now Allah Almighty and the Taliban were their only hope. Later, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also called our sources from somewhere in Afghanistan and owned a statement given by the Taliban commander.
The militant commander alleged that the US soldier, whom his fighters kidnapped from Afghanistan’s Paktika province near the border with Pakistan’s troubled South Waziristan in June 2009, had admitted his involvement in several raids in Afghanistan. “Since he has confessed to all charges against him, our Islamic court had announced death sentence for him,” the Taliban leader claimed.
The same Taliban faction released a video of the captive US soldier on Christmas Day. Taliban said they had been shifting the soldier all the time due to the search operations by the US and Afghan forces. He said the only way Americans could save life of their soldier was to release 21 Afghan prisoners and the “innocent” Pakistani lady.
Most of their prisoners, he claimed, were being held at the Guantanamo prison. “We believe that like the Israelis, the Americans would be ready soon to do any deal for taking possession of the remains of their soldier, but it would be late by then,” he stressed. Dr Aafia’s family could not be approached for comments on the Taliban claim.
