Jun 11, 2013 2 min read

A McDonald man with a distinguished service record in the Pennsylvania Air National Guard pleaded guilty in federal court to lying about being sent on a 10-month deployment to gain additional active duty payments.

Richard A. Ward, 42, of 111 Orchard St., agreed to plead guilty Tuesday to charges of theft of government money and making a false document after authorities said he received more than $14,000 in additional pay to which he was not entitled.

Federal prosecutors said he falsified documents to his employer at the Department of Veterans Affairs claiming he was deployed with the 171st Refueling Wing from August 2011 to June 2012. He submitted the forged and counterfeit “special order” while an employee of the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and was given $14,165 in additional payments and benefits.

Ward faces a maximum of 15 years in prison and a fine of as much as $500,000. He is free on bond while awaiting sentencing by U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti.

Maj. Karen Bogdan, the refueling wing’s public affairs officer, said Ward has been a member of the unit for 18 years and is currently listed as a technical sergeant. His discharge is pending but must be reviewed by Defense Department officials, she said.

“We’ve cooperated and supported any requests made to us during the investigation,” Bogdan said. “We at the wing do not condone any fraudulent activity or information put forward by any of our members.”

Pennsylvania Air National Guard documents show Ward received the Valley Forge Certificate for Heroism in 2006 for his role in saving a man’s life while in Hawaii on a layover following a deployment.

Ward told his commanders that while hiking at Diamond Head Park in Honolulu, he was alerted to an unconscious man who was neither breathing nor had a pulse. He began CPR and restored both, according to the documents. Ward said he continued to monitor the man for the next hour while medics worked to airlift the man from the park.