Man who faked war injury pleads guilty to theft of government funds
A Las Vegas man who lied to obtain benefits from the Veterans Administration for post traumatic stress disorder ostensibly stemming from his service in Vietnam pleaded guilty Tuesday to theft of government funds and to a second count of unlawful wearing of a service medal, a Purple Heart, he was never awarded.
David M. Perelman, 57, faces up to 10 years in federal prison on the first count and up to a year on the second, as well as a combined $350,000 in fines when U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson sentences him Dec. 1.
Perelman fraudulently received more than $180,000 in VA benefits from 1995 through 2008, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Yang.
More than $20,000 was paid to treat his diabetes; the remainder went to treat post traumatic stress disorder, but Perelman never saw combat. He claimed he was wounded by shrapnel, but an injury to his leg was the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound incurred more than 20 years after he returned from Vietnam.
Perelman pleaded guilty to wearing the Purple Heart, awarded to members of the armed forces who are injured in battle, over a two-week period in August 2008. The charge of unlawful wearing of a service medal is connected to the Stolen Valor Act, which the 9th Circuit appeals court recently declared unconstitutional.
Dawson, however, ruled the circumstances regarding Perelman were unrelated to the facts in the 9th Circuit's case. In a rare move, the judge allowed Perelman to retain his right to appeal the constitutionality of the act.
