DAVENPORT, IA- On August 30, 2016, Robert Ellsworth Brooks, Jr., age 70, of Davenport, Iowa, was sentenced by District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose to five years’ probation and a $5,000 fine, announced United States Attorney Kevin E. VanderSchel. Brooks pled guilty under the Stolen Valor Act to purchasing medals without proper authorization. Brooks was also ordered to forfeit the unauthorized medals and pay a $25 special assessment to the Crime Victims’ Fund.

Brooks has served in both the United States Army and the United States Navy. From approximately November 1962 to September 1966, Brooks served in the Navy. From approximately May 1967 until September 1970, Brooks served in the Army. This time in the Army included deployment and service in Vietnam in the helicopter program. From approximately September 1970 until September 1974, he served in the Army Reserve. From approximately September 1974 until January 31, 1986, Brooks served in the Navy and was discharged under “other than honorable conditions.” After his discharge from the Army, Brook’s DD-214 dated September 10, 1970, listed the following Awards and Decorations (A & D): National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Army Aviator Badge, Parachute Badge, 30/S Service Bars, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Medal (14th award with “V” device).

Sometime between 1971-1974, and during his service in the Army Reserves, Brooks engaged in a conversation with others and as a result compiled a list of Awards and Decorations he thought he deserved, but had not validly been awarded. He knowingly provided this list to another and this information was falsely added to his official military file.

After Brooks began his service in the Navy in 1974, through a series of administrative interactions between the Army and Navy, the Navy obtained a copy of Army records, including a Form 66, which had been populated with this falsely added information under the Awards & Decorations. The Navy relied on this form as legitimate and believed Brooks was entitled to the incorrectly listed Awards & Decorations. When Brooks was discharged from the Navy on January 31, 1986, his DD-214 included the false Awards & Decorations. Throughout the years, the only document that was checked when suspicion arose about the earned Awards & Decorations was the fraudulent DD-214.

On January 31, 1986, Brooks was discharged from the Navy. As part of his plea in federal court, Brooks admitted that the DD-214 dated January 31, 1986, included false Awards & Decorations. Most significantly, Brooks’ DD-214 falsely reported that he had received a Silver Star Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, a Purple Heart with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters, and a Combat Infantry Badge. Brooks also admitted that his records falsely included the following: Distinguished Flying Cross with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, Bronze Star Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Airmen Medal with a 57, an Oak Leaf Cluster and “V,” Army Commendation Medal with “V,” Navy Good Conduct, Navy Pistol Expert, Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with star, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign w/ Bar, Republic of Vietnam Honor 1st Class, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, Navy Unit Commendation, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Presidential Unit Citation, (Army) Presidential Unit Citation, (Army) Meritorious Unit Citation, (Army) Valorous Unit Citation, Republic of Vietnam Combat Action Ribbon, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Republic of Vietnam Air Service, Vietnam Air Cross Gallantry w/ Silver Wings, Army Overseas Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Army NCO Proficiency Development, Naval Parachutist Badge, Naval Aviator Badge, Navy Aircrew Member Wings, Army Parachutist Badge, Republic of Vietnam Parachutist Badge, and Pathfinder Badge.

Brooks knew he had not been legitimately authorized to receive these Awards and Decorations. Brooks admitted that he knowingly and intentionally purchased unauthorized Awards & Decorations, including, but not limited to a Silver Star with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, a Purple Heart with 4 Oak Leaf clusters, and a Combat Infantryman Badge.

Brooks has repeatedly and falsely affirmed, in public and private settings, that he was properly entitled to and received the additional Awards & Decorations improperly added to his DD-214. Brooks has failed to correct this erroneous information. On several occasions when others have questioned his service record, Brooks has referred to the 1986 DD-214, knowing that it contained false information. At his sentencing hearing, the district court noted that Brooks’ public claims that he was a prisoner of war (POW) after he and his crew were shot down during the Vietnam War were not credible. The district court also noted that a story published in Chicken Soup for the Veteran’s Soul, based on information provided by Brooks and describing Brooks flying through enemy fire to save a group of Marines, one of which turned out to be a family member, also was apparently not true.

This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 10-year-old boy tried to sell marijuana to two friends at school in Lincoln.

Lincoln police spokeswoman Katie Flood says the student told police he’d picked some of the pot from a wild plant in a neighbor’s yard. Flood says the neighbor told officers he’d found the plant growing in his flower bed. It’s been removed.

The boy was referred to juvenile authorities.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a car driver has been arrested after fleeing the scene of a fatal collision with a motorcyclist in western Omaha.

The accident was reported around 7:20 p.m. Wednesday. Police say the motorcycle was heading west when it collided with the eastbound car as the car turned north. The car left the crash scene, but it was soon spotted.

The driver was arrested on suspicion of committing several crimes, including leaving the scene of a fatal crash and driving under the influence, fourth offense. Online court records don’t show that he’s been formally charged.

Police say the injured motorcyclist was taken to Nebraska Medical Center, where he soon died. Police identified him as 43-year-old Justin Hart, who lived in Omaha.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say no one was shot when an Omaha officer fired his gun at a man accused of ramming a police cruiser. But both an officer and the suspect suffered minor injuries in a collision just after the shooting.

Omaha police say officers were trying to arrest 30-year-old Robert Coffman on a warrant charging him with felony drug possession and flight to avoid arrest when he rammed a police vehicle.

Police say 32-year-old Officer Sergio Gutierrez fired his gun, hitting Coffman’s pickup. Police say Coffman then drove off in reverse before another police vehicle rammed the front of his truck. Both Coffman and the officer who rammed him were treated for minor injuries.

Coffman is being held in jail. A public defender in his drug case did not immediately return a phone message Wednesday.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 38-year-old man has been given three years in prison for beating a woman while holding her in her apartment for eight hours.

Online court records say Issac Lowery was sentenced Monday in Lancaster County District Court. He pleaded no contest to strangulation, false imprisonment, and domestic assault after prosecutors dropped two other charges.

The woman reported in January that Lowery choked and punched her during the ordeal. She says she escaped after eight hours, ran to a gas station and called police for help.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha Public Schools officials say they’ve received three separate reports within the past week of people attempting to lure students into vehicles.

The incidents occurred at Benson High School, South High School and Morton Moccurrediddle School.

Separate emails were sent to Benson and South parents. After the third incident at Morton, all families in the district were notified.

The email says that the students quickly reported the incidents to a nearby adult. All of the incidents have been reported to the Omaha Police Department.

The Benson student was approached by someone in a white van with dark tinted windows and side double doors. The South student was approached by someone in a black Chevy pickup truck.

The Millard and Elkhorn school districts also have reported luring attempts in the past few weeks.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 27-year-old Omaha man has been killed in the collision of his motorcycle with a sport utility vehicle.

An Omaha police news release says a woman riding with the man and the SUV driver were hospitalized.

Police say the accident occurred a little after 12:20 a.m. Wednesday as the motorcycle raced east on Dodge Street, ran a red light and collided with the northbound SUV.

Police say Jed Workman died at the scene. His passenger, 23-year-old Rachel Macchietto, and the SUV driver, 33-year-old Anei Mathet Anei, were taken to Nebraska Medical Center. They live in Omaha.

BRADSHAW, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a man who died after a tractor accident about 2½ miles from Bradshaw.

York County Sheriff Dale Radcliff identified the man Tuesday as 85-year-old David Quiring, who lived in Henderson.

Radcliff says Quiring was mowing the edge of a county road when a tractor wheel went over the edge onto the steep bank, causing the tractor and its attached mower to roll over. Quiring was found dead at the scene, trapped under the tractor.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A letter from the chief executive of Omaha Public Power District says the utility will permanently shut down its nuclear plant at Fort Calhoun this fall.

That comes from correspondence it obtained from OPPD President and CEO Tim Burke to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The letter, dated Thursday, says the Fort Calhoun plant will be shuttered Oct. 24.

The utility’s board voted in June to permanently close the plant.

Once closed, a nuclear plant must undergo a decommissioning process to remove or decontaminate materials and equipment that have been exposed to radioactivity. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires decommissioning to be completed within 60 years of a plant’s closure.

Cleaning up the site after its closure is estimated to cost more than $1 billion.