Accused faker arrested at doughnut shop

[unhappycamper]

Accused faker arrested at doughnut shop
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jan 9, 2008 14:54:39 EST

LAWRENCE, Mass. — A Lawrence school committee member has been charged with faking a 20-year record in the Marines.

Jim Stokes was arrested this morning at a Lawrence doughnut shop.

He later was arraigned in federal court on a charge of forging military discharge papers. A judge released him on a $10,000 unsecured bond.

After his court appearance, Stokes said he planned to continue serving on the board.

Stokes had touted his 20 years of military service during his campaign this fall, but city officials have said the military had no record of his service.


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/01/ap_faker_080109/



uhc comment: Here's the Boston Globe article on him:



James F. Stokes said yesterday that his arrest will not affect his plans to serve on the School Committee.


Lawrence official faces charge he forged military paper
By Jonathan Saltzman and Russell Contreras
Globe Staff / January 10, 2008

Elected officials have been brought down by booze, gambling, and sex scandals, but James F. Stokes, who was sworn in Monday as a member of the Lawrence School Committee, was arrested on a federal charge yesterday, at least partly because he volunteered to be Santa Claus.

When city officials ran a routine criminal record check on Stokes before the Christmas celebration at City Hall, they learned that he had served short sentences in 1964 and 1986 for larceny and forgery. Then reporters began questioning whether Stokes was a US Marine Corps veteran, as he had asserted during his campaign.

Yesterday, around 7 a.m., FBI agents and local police swooped in on the Top Donut shop on the south side of Lawrence and arrested Stokes on a charge that in late 2006 he had forged a Marine Corps discharge document that described him as a recipient of numerous medals.

Stokes, 63, appeared briefly before US Magistrate Judge Joyce L. Alexander in Boston on the misdemeanor charge, which carries a maximum penalty of a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. She released him on a $10,000 unsecured bond.

Outside the courthouse, Stokes declined to discuss the charge but said it would not affect his plans to serve on the School Committee.


Rest of Globe article at: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/01/10/lawrence_official_faces_charge_he_forged_military_paper/