31 year old sarah jane kavanagh wanted people to believe she was a decorated war hero she
created fake accounts and crafted an elaborate backstory about how she was a brave marine
who contracted cancer from exposure to burn pits in iraq and afghanistan she used this narrative
to convince generous folks to send her money for her supposed health care expenses the only
problem is that it was all based on a lie brave men and women in the u.s military are granted
honors and medals to commemorate their courage or sacrifice on the battlefield according to
kavanaugh she received two of the most prestigious medals given to service members the purple heart
and bronze star the purple heart is the military's oldest honor reserved for only the worthiest
recipients it's granted individuals who were either wounded or killed during active duty
symbolizing the sacrifice of servicemen and women it was first established in 1782 and more than
2 million have been distributed in the 240 years since the bronze star was first established in
1944. this medal is given to individuals who demonstrated heroism during a military operation
against enemy forces the v displayed by those who wear the bronze star stands for valor which
all recipients are deemed to possess of course not everyone who claims to have received these
medals demonstrates such honorable qualities that brings us back to kavanaugh as part of
her effort to fleece well-meaning individuals kavanaugh claimed that she developed stage four
lung cancer after inhaling chemicals emitted by burn pits during her service in the middle
east many veterans particularly those who served during the afghanistan war have suffered severe
health consequences from such burn pits they were initially set up on bases across the region to
dispose of various materials while fire can be an effective way to get rid of the trash
it also produces smoke in fumes detrimental to the health of those nearby as a result of those
burn pits the military estimates that three and a half million american service members were exposed
to potentially harmful emissions kavanaugh was not one of those people but that didn't stop her from
claiming that she was according to prosecutors she scammed generous supporters and advocacy
groups out of about 250 000 authorities say she petitioned several leading military organizations
including the code of support foundation for donations to her cause that group provided her
with roughly eighteen thousand dollars which she used to repair the furnace in her home
and pay for a membership at a health club among other things she reportedly brought in more than
two hundred thousand dollars from the wounded warrior project which collected the funds to
help her with her grocery bills and the cost of physical therapy creative ets a group dedicated
to providing art therapy to veterans spent more than sixteen thousand dollars on kavanaugh's
behalf a source from within the organization said the benefits included tuition and travel
among other expenses her online fundraiser netted an additional 4 700 in donations as one of those
donors later acknowledged kavanaugh's story was so convincing that it couldn't be a lie it was
impossible kate manion hosted a military theme podcast and used her position to call on others
to donate money in a subsequent article manion wrote that she was so wrapped up in the story that
she suspended disbelief and did not research the claims upon closer inspection however she noted
that kavanaugh wore her medals differently than actual marines would however when faced with the
prospect of helping a dying veteran the host said that she didn't even look closely at any of that
stuff because she never imagined that anyone would make up such a story just to make a few bucks
marine major thomas schumann who started the veterans group patrol base abate said kavanaugh
reached out to him and presented fake documents to back up her cancer claims he met with her to
discuss her situation and confirmed that she had created a fundraising account and repeated the
same claims about her military history and illness she recounted the supposed injury she received in
afghanistan and lengthy recovery at medical facilities in germany and the united states
she even told schuman she had two years left to live to maintain a lie like this one kavanaugh
had to provide some evidence to back up her claims she used her job at the veterans administration
and her knack for weaving complicated lies to accomplish her shady goal she was working at
a va medical center in rhode island when she got her hands on a discharge certificate for a marine
named patrick herney prosecutors say she forged that document to say she served in the marines
between 2009 and 2016. she altered the paperwork to indicate that she achieved the rank of corporal
she also replaced herni's birthday and social security number with her own certain other
identifying information including a military id number were left untouched as for the medals
kavanaugh bought them from a military supplier in california she put on a convincing act including a
speech she delivered in august 2021 at the purple heart trail in her home state clad in a uniform
adorned by the purple heart medal she reflected on living life in a war zone addressing a crowd of
veterans she recited a poem she wrote about those who are unsure of how to exist in the world after
leaving the military insisting that she could relate to that sentiment she described herself as
one of those veterans who wished to fly under the radar who merely did what was asked when it was
asked after sharing her poem kavanaugh went on to share her supposed motivation she described
a fellow marine who was injured during their service in afghanistan upon being discharged
and returning to the united states she claimed that the individual took their own life she also
referenced the 11 other marines who received a purple heart along with her adding that some came
home some did not but no one came home the same as with any complex scheme kavanaugh's house of cards
came toppling down in early 2022 authorities looked into claims that she was falsifying
information to perpetuate a scam in addition to forging military documents prosecutors say she
also created fraudulent medical paperwork to reflect her fake lung cancer reports indicate
that she even reached out to a veteran's health advocacy group for assistance however staff at
the hunter 7 foundation reached a dead end when they tried to verify kavanaugh's marine background
as the allegations against her piled up she caved under pressure to resign as the commander of the
veterans of foreign wars in rhode island at that point her problems were only getting
worse a criminal complaint laid out the case against kavanaugh revealing a complex scheme
meant to deceive and defraud organizations committed to helping actual veterans dealing
with a range of serious issues prosecutors say she leveraged her ties to the va to obtain a
uniform and the prestigious medals she was also accused of retrieving the documents necessary
to forge evidence that she was being treated for lung cancer at the dana farber institute in boston
after using an actual patient's identification and records she allegedly submitted the documentation
to hunter 7 and claimed that she needed help paying her bills while battling the potentially
deadly disease a marine who served around the same time as kavanaugh brought the matter to
the attention of the hunter 7 foundation she would have known about kavanaugh if she was as
decorated as she claims the administrators and members of a facebook group dedicated to female
marines investigated the authenticity of the documents several people determined there was
something fishy going on with the information when officials got suspicious they looked more closely
at kavanaugh's documentation particularly the military id number their research revealed the id
linked back to herni the actual marine who served between 2011 and 2016 before taking
on a civilian role at the navy he was able to add more context to the investigation by
confirming that he had been treated at the va hospital while kavanaugh worked there however
he didn't know who she was nor how she got her hands on his information prosecutors say the
id number was left untouched but she altered the social security number on the forged documents one
glaring issue with her papers was that a release form signed in 2015 listed her discharge date
as 2016. she identified herself as a marine security guard on the same document though
there was no evidence that she had completed the necessary training even as she faced increasing
heat from military groups donors and authorities she maintained her innocence she even agreed to an
interview with the military news outlet task and purpose during which she asserted that she didn't
tell the hunter 7 foundation that she was a marine veteran dying of cancer furthermore she claimed
that the organization contacted her initially and she didn't send representatives any documentation
painting her as an injured veteran she says they wanted to know her story she described the
interactions as indirect third-person referrals and claimed that she had no idea the group planned
to conduct a fundraiser to benefit her as for the money collected on her behalf kavanaugh insisted
that she wouldn't claim any donations from any charities attempting to distance herself from the
allegations she denied having any ties to the vfw in rhode island she also evaded questions about
whether she'd been installed as the commander of that post vfw officials acknowledged that she'd
been the post's commander before her resignation amid the growing scandal issuing public denials
and stepping down from her post wasn't enough to keep prosecutors from pursuing her u.s
attorney zachary a kuna said kavanaugh's fraud was 241 thousand dollars which came from various
organizations and individual contributors who found her gofundme page the hunter 7 foundation
confirmed that it had refunded any donations given to kavanaugh according to the group's
executive director the entire ordeal cost them more than just money chelsea simone explained
that kavanaugh presented a heart-wrenching story that hijacked compassion everyone fell for her
lies and gave her resources that could have gone somewhere else as of the latest updates available
there's no reliable information confirming that she never enlisted in the marines or any other
military branch she was arrested on suspicion of multiple crimes including forging a military
discharge fraud and aggravated identity theft if convicted she could spend 25 years behind bars
following her arrest she was released after posting a 50 000 bond several prominent cases of
stolen valor or fraudulently portraying oneself as a military hero have made the news in recent years
when combined with a fake illness and an effort to fleece well-meaning people out of their money
kavanaugh's case is even more outrageous than most seeing how she faces more than two decades
in prison it's clear that prosecutors and military officials treat crimes like hers very seriously
click here to watch one of these next videos let us know in the comment section
what you think is worse lying about cancer or lying about military service