COMMUNITY
Veterans affairs Susan Buonsante was married to Wineberg less than a year when she found out about his stolen valor. Not before he took her for $70,000, she said. “I had no idea the man I married was a con artist and a serial predator of women,” she told InMaricopa . “He fabricated nearly every detail of his life story.” Buonsante spent more than $55,000 on a parcel of land in Hidden Valley under the auspice her new husband would obtain a VA- backed Veterans Home Loan to build a house there. It was only after closing on the land she learned he was not eligible for a VA loan. According to a divorce decree in Pinal County Superior Court, Buonsante was awarded the land “due to Wineberg engaging in fraud.” Wineberg has been married at least six times and has at least six children, none of whom he supports, according to government records.
dubbed it “a national phenomenon, a weird ripple in the American psyche.” At that time, it was a crime to merely display a false military medal as Wineberg did — albeit under the same statute that made it illegal to impersonate a 4-H member. After an Arizona man falsely told newspapers he was a decorated war hero who captured Saddam Hussein, Congress passed the Stolen Valor Act of 2005 making it a crime to wear unearned military medals. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the law a violation of the First Amendment in 2012, prompting the Stolen Valor Act of 2013, which made it a crime to profit from false military accomplishments. “I think it was a bad call on the part of the Supreme Court," American Military News journalist and stolen valor researcher Cheryl Hinneburg told InMaricopa . “Those who are guilty of stolen valor should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. It is a slap in the face to our military and veterans.” In 2019, Congress upped the federal prison sentence from six months to 12 months for violating the stolen valor law. But just one year later, investigators at the National Archives reported stolen valor cases were on the rise. After InMaricopa exposed another fake war hero in July, the magazine asked its readers if the penalties for stolen valor fit the crime. About 3,000 people answered the poll, with more than 85% saying the penalties are not strict enough. One in 10 respondents said the penalties were adequate while just 1 in 100 said they were too strict. After learning his story, Hinneburg didn’t feel qualified to answer if Wineberg violated stolen valor laws. “It is a federal crime if he used ribbons or medals to obtain something of value,” says Chuck Pardue, a military law attorney in Evans, Ga. And obtain something of value he did.
Susan Buonsante
FACTS VS. FICTION
Stanley Wayne Wineberg Jr. earned plenty of honors while enlisted in the Army, which makes his lies all the more puzzling. Let's separate the facts from the fiction.
THE FACTS
THE FICTION
Rank E5
Rank E7
Served six years, nine months Army Commendation Medal Army Achievement Medal Joint Meritorious Unit Award Army Good Conduct Medal National Defense Service Medal
Served 15 years
Purple Heart
Army Elite Special Forces (Green Beret)
Top Secret Security Clearance Shrapnel wounds in Somalia
Saved life of comrade "Eddie” in Somalia
Soldier for Life Medal Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal Humanitarian Service Medal NCO Professional Development Ribbon Army Service Ribbon United Nations Medal Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge – Rifle Bar Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge – Grenade Bar
“The trust of the innocent is the liar’s most useful tool.” – STEPHEN KING
Combat Infantryman Badge Expert Infantryman Badge Air Assault Badge Ranger Tab Driver and Mechanic Badge
InMaricopa.com | December 2023
20
Powered by FlippingBook