Another Fake Army General Alexander “Bud” Cannarella
April 17th, 2010 Posted in The SandGram v1.0
Carmine Alexander "Bud" Cannarella
Here is ANOTHER case of a Poser out there… when will this stop???
A Big Bear Lake man has been charged with fraud for passing himself off as a general and using the seal of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on his business cards, federal investigators said Friday.
Prosecutors said Carmine Alexander “Bud” Cannarella, 64, had spent years pretending to be a general in the Army Reserve, making the bogus claim on his business cards, resume and the Internet. He even had photos made up of himself in a two-star general’s outfit.
“There are indications that he once applied to be city manager of Big Bear,” said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles. “It is unclear what he was up to.”
Cannarella did, in fact, serve in the military in the 1960s, but he never surpassed the rank of private.
In 2008, he handed someone his photo and a business card with the Joint Chiefs logo that identified him as a general and a licensed clinical psychologist. The person became suspicious and turned over the card to authorities.
[Updated at 5:51 p.m.: On Wednesday, Cannarella was charged with felony fraud and agreed to plead guilty at a later date. An earlier post said he had already pleaded guilty.]
If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison.
The FBI and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department conducted the investigation.
Last month, Steven Douglas Burton, 39, a Palm Springs bank employee, was fined $250 and placed on a year’s probation after showing up at his 20th high school reunion dressed as a Marine Corps officer with a chest full of medals. He later admitted that he had never been in the armed forces and had bought the medals at military shops and on EBay.
“The bottom line in all of these cases is that this is a slap in the face of so many who have admirably served in the military,” Mrozek said.
–David Kelly
