Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
In what can only be described as the most bizarre military recruiting ploy ever, Californian Yupeng Deng is charged with duping Chinese Immigrants into enlisting into his private army. Luring the unsuspecting “recruits” with promises of citizenship, the El Monte native convinced over 200 Chinese nationals to pay initiation fees ranging from $300 – $450. Donning the rank of “Supreme Commander'” Deng paraded his regiment through the streets of L.A., and then led a successful boarding of the U.S.S. Midway which is now a naval museum in San Diego.
Deng also set up an office decorated to look like a real military recruiting office. Once the unsuspecting “soldiers” had paid, he provided gear bought from army surplus stores and identification cards made to look like military ID’s, which Mr. Deng said they could use to get out of traffic tickets, said Laura Eimiller, a public affairs specialist with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Los Angeles.
The FBI and the Defense Criminal Investigative service took a dim view of Deng’s efforts at mustering a private army, and charged the field general with theft by false pretenses, manufacturing deceptive government documents, and counterfeiting a government seal. When a search of his apartment turned up some child pornography, the commander faced that charge as well.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jack Hunt was equally unimpressed with Deng’s Army and sentenced the Supreme Commander to three years in the stockade. No word yet on whether the U.S. Army/Military Special Forces Reserve unit, as Deng dubbed his rough-walkers, has replaced its fallen commander, but word has it peace talks with ICE have commenced for the troops.
Source: Yahoo News
~Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger