Kinsman man sentenced for falsifying miltary records for free license plates

WARREN

Keith D. Chandler, 35, of Kinsman Township, was sentenced to 90 days in the Trumbull County jail Wednesday with work-release privileges for falsifying documents so he could obtain Purple Heart license plates.

The Purple Heart is for military personnel wounded by the enemy during battle.

Chandler will not be allowed to enter taverns, must pay $241 in restitution to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, pay a $500 fine, perform 250 hours of community service to a veterans organization and write an apology letter to local veterans.

If he violates his five years of probation, he could be sentenced to six years in prison.

Chandler pleaded guilty earlier to seven counts of tampering with records and one count of forgery for tampering with his military discharge papers in 2009 and tampering with Ohio BMV records in 2011, 2012 and 2013 to get the free plates.

Chandler’s sentencing hearing before Judge Ronald Rice was among the longest in recent memory because of the questioning of a local veterans official by Chandler’s attorney, Gary Rich, and a victim-impact statement from a local veteran.

Some of the questioning by Rich was aimed at convincing Judge Rice that despite Chandler not having been awarded a Purple Heart, he did suffer injuries while serving with the Marine Corps in the Middle East in 2003 that could have made him eligible for one.

Read more about the case in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.