Marine imposter caught in Tahoe exposes lapses in security
By JJ Hensley, Arizona Republic
Sgt. John Rodriguez cut an imposing figure when he was introduced at the Republican committee meeting in the winter of 2008.
The decorated Marine and aspiring precinct committeeman came to the event in his green service uniform with some of the military branch’s highest honors clearly visible, including the Navy Cross.
John Rodriguez
That was the first thing that caught Dan Ryan’s eye.
“My first reaction was, this guy’s a stud,” Ryan said. “Then I looked a little more and thought, something’s going on here. I’m very, very sensitive about the Navy Cross. I happen to have written one of the citations for the Marine who was killed right next to me in 1967 in Vietnam in a firefight.”
Ryan’s hunch led the former FBI agent to do some digging of his own and ultimately put him in touch with investigators at the Arizona Department of Public Safety.