Sarah Jane Cavanaugh, 32, also has to pay full restitution, according to a U.S. District Court in Providence.
Cavanaugh pleaded guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, forgery, and fraudulent use of medals. At public gatherings, wearing her Purple Heart and Bronze Star, Cavanaugh discussed the hardships veterans confront and was even made leader of a Veterans of Foreign Wars organization. However, her deception was revealed in early 2022 when a charity, which had requested funds from her, began to become suspicious and investigated her past.
March 15, 2023
"Sarah Cavanaugh’s conduct in the course of her scheme is nothing short of appalling," said U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha. "By brazenly laying claim to the honor, service, and sacrifice of real veterans, this defendant preyed on the charity and decency of others for her own shameless financial gain."
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Cavanaugh, who worked as a licensed social worker for the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Providence, obtained access to personal information, medical records, and documents of a genuine veteran suffering from cancer, which she employed to develop fraudulent documents and medical records in her name, asserting that she had been honorably released and had cancer, as prosecutors stated when they charged her in March of the same year.
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When she said that she could not afford the insurance deductibles for her cancer treatment, the same veteran whose identity she had stolen and who is identified in court papers only by his initials agreed to pay them for her — nearly $600 per month — an act that "plumbed the depths of moral depravity," prosecutors said.
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Cavanaugh stated that her time in Iraq and Afghanistan ran from 2009 to 2016, and she attained the rank of corporal. The veteran is now being treated for lung cancer, which she believes was caused by the burn pits she was exposed to and the particles from a bomb explosion she inhaled, according to law enforcement.
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Prosecutors reported that she obtained over $225,000 from the Wounded Warrior Project for the purpose of paying for yoga classes, gym fees, food items, and physical therapy, to name a few.
In one victim impact statement submitted to the court, a real veteran she met said she took a spot in a therapeutic veterans art program that could have gone to a veteran. The veteran told the court that a friend who applied for the program, known as CreatiVets, was not accepted and later took his own life. Cavanaugh received $15,000 from the program, according to court documents.
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In court documents, Cavanaugh's lawyer stated that she expressed remorse and had to pay full restitution. She suffered from "severe trauma during her formative years in high school," and through her job, developed a connection with the veterans she cared for.
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"Today’s sentencing sends a strong message to those who would represent themselves as something they’re not in order to profit from the kindness and respect shown to our nation’s deserving veterans," said Christopher Algieri, head of the VA's Office of Inspector General’s Northeast Field Office.
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