Joe.My.God. LGBT News
The Military Times reports:
A veteran who spread a false story blaming White House immigration policies for harming homeless veterans was charged with stolen valor and fraud this week after months of investigation into her charity work by the FBI. Sharon Toney-Finch, 43, founder of the Yerik Israel Toney Foundation in New York and an Army veteran, was charged by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York with multiple counts of fraud. She could face more than 30 years in prison if convicted of all the charges.
Toney-Finch came under national scrutiny in May 2023 after her organization claimed that 20 homeless veterans under its care had been kicked out of a Newburgh, New York, hotel to make room for incoming migrants being housed through county funding. New York state lawmakers introduced legislation to stop the evictions. But as the story gained national attention, hotel officials said they had no record of the veterans in question, and Veterans Affairs officials said they had no record of any direct work with the charity.
From the Justice Department:
Between at least July 2019 through about September 2023, TONEY-FINCH engaged in a scheme to defraud donors to her charitable organization by falsely claiming that donation funds would be spent solely to support homeless military veterans, when in fact she spent the funds on personal expenses. She further falsely claimed that she survived and was injured in a terrorist attack to a vehicle convoy in Iraq in or about March 2010 and that she is a Purple Heart recipient.
Between at least March 2016 through the present, TONEY-FINCH knowingly obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars in disability benefits from the VA by fraudulently representing that, during her military service in Iraq, she sustained combat-related injuries during a mortar attack in or about February 2010 and a vehicle rollover that occurred in or about March 2010.
Between about August 2021 through the present, TONEY-FINCH has falsely claimed that she is a Purple Heart recipient in statements made to donors to her charitable organization, an application to the New York Department of Motor Vehicles to obtain a vanity license plate, and an application to the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor to obtain a medallion and recognition on their website. TONEY-FINCH has also used, possessed, and exhibited a military discharge certificate that had been altered to reflect falsely that she is a Purple Heart recipient.
TONEY-FINCH, 43, of Newburgh, New York, is charged with wire fraud, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison; theft of government funds, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 10 years in prison; stolen valor, which carries a maximum potential sentence of one year in prison; and altering military discharge paperwork, which carries a maximum potential sentence of one year in prison.
Fox News has not yet mentioned her arrest despite having devoted dozens of raging segments to her false claims. Last year, a host did read a statement acknowledging that they had been “misled.”
Fox acknowledges a story they ran wild with miiiiight have been a hoax
“We are now looking into new reports that a veterans advocate misled lawmakers, and media outlets, about a story that some homeless men may have been hired to pose as veterans”
OOPS pic.twitter.com/rUWY0zQojk
— Lis Power (@LisPower1) May 19, 2023
Right Wing Outlets Ran Fake Story About Homeless Vets Ejected From NY Hotels To Make Room For Migrants – https://t.co/i8V9Q232zX pic.twitter.com/XH0oSFaELm
— JoeMyGod (@JoeMyGod) May 19, 2023