Lehigh man accused of stealing veteran benefits claims innocence

LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. A Lee County man accused of falsifying a veteran’s document to receive extra benefits he didn’t earn insists he’s innocent.

34-year-old Jack Otterwalder turned himself in to authorities on Tuesday. But he believes he is being framed because he’s never received benefits for his short time in the Army.

A fake certificate of release or discharge from active duty, commonly known as a DD Form 214, was found with Ottenwalder’s personal information on it in January, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said. The certificate exaggerated dates, duty stations, training and awards, according to the sheriff’s office.

But Otterwalder says he has a copy of the form that shows otherwise.

Ottenwalder has a veteran designation on his driver’s license. He claims he submitted a DD Form 214 to the Department of Motor Vehicles for that designation because he was told he could do so.

“They said I could do it, so I gave it to them,” Ottenwalder said. “I figured if anything was wrong, they’d look at it and say, ‘No, this ain’t going to fly’ and no, it’s turned into something bigger and bigger and bigger.”

Forgeries are common, said Anthony Anderson, who investigates cases of stolen valor.

“Basically that 214 covers his entire military career. It’s like his resume for what he did in the military,” Anderson said. “The DD 214 nowadays is easily forged. We found that people are charging excess of $50 to do a fake 214 for people.”

Neither the DMV nor the sheriffs office have released the forms they have on file.