Kinsman man gets 90 days for falsifying documents for Purple Heart plates
By Ed Runyan
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 a letter of apology 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.
Some Veterans Affairs documents indicate he has post-traumatic stress disorder and is 80 percent disabled, Rich said. Some documents also show a diagnosis of traumatic-brain injury.
But Chuck Morrow, an assistant county prosecutor, said the traumatic-brain injury diagnosis was made only on the basis of Chandler reporting an incident from 2003 to the doctor many years later. Morrow said none of the paperwork meets any of the requirements for the medal.
“Quite simply, [Chandler] is of the opinion that the rules do not apply to him,” Morrow said, adding that several marks on his military and criminal record indicate that “he’s not an honorable person.” He was discharged from the military “under other than honorable conditions,” according to Morrow.
Chandler spoke to Judge Rice, saying: “Because of my lack of judgment, I’ve lost the rights I fought to preserve.”
He was referring to his loss of voting privileges and his no longer being allowed to own or use firearms as a result of his eight felony convictions.
He described how he and his sons enjoy hunting together, something he will have to give up. “I now stand to lose my very freedom,” he said. After the sentencing, Chandler was taken in handcuffs to the jail.
About 30 military veterans attended the hearing, and Chandler turned from Judge Rice to the veterans at one point and apologized directly to them.
Victor Scurry of Warren, a member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 606 in Warren, said he believes Judge Rice gave Chandler the sentence the judge felt was appropriate under the law, but Scurry would have liked Chandler get five to 10 years in prison “to set the proper example.”