Mine Hill man admits lying about military record to get gifts
MORRISTOWN - A 67-year-old Mine Hill resident admitted Monday that he got a $31,919 deck built on his home and gifts of a hunting trip to Tennessee and a hunting bow, all by fabricating a Vietnam War-era military record that included being a Green Beret, sniper and prisoner-of-war.
Robert Guidi pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Paul Armstrong in Morristown to two counts of theft by deception and one count of violating the state's Stolen Valor Act by purposely deceiving the Wounded Warriors in Action Foundation and the Morris County Veterans Service Office about his military career so that he could receive goods and benefits.
Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Rappa has recommended that Guidi be sentenced on May 19 to three years in prison and repay the North American Deck and Railing Association the $31,919 it paid for labor and materials to build a deck on his home. Guidi already has returned the hunting bow he received in appreciation of what turned out to be a false military record.
Under questioning by defense lawyer Neill Hamilton, Guidi said he was in the U.S. Army during Vietnam but was a private in rank with a clerical position. Hamilton said he will argue that Guidi be sentenced to the county's Drug Court program under which he would stay out of prison and be on long-term probation. Drug Court is for treatment and rehabilitation of defendants addicted to drugs, and Guidi's eligibility for being in Drug Court - opposed by the Prosecutor's Office - has not been disclosed.
Sentencing was set for May 19. After his arrest in January 2016, Guidi spent more than eight months in the Morris County jail until he was released while the charges were pending. Besides making $31,919 in restitution, he also will have to pay a $1,000 fine for violating the Stolen Valor Act.
During the plea, Hamilton asked Guidi: "Mr. Guidi, you were a member of the Armed Services of the United States?"
"That's correct," Guidi replied.
"At no time did you receive a Purple Heart, Combat Infantry Badge, and your rank was as a private?" Hamilton asked. Guidi replied "Correct." He acknowledged that he received a Good Conduct medal and Vietnam Service medal.
But he created an elaborate story of valor, of receiving the Purple Heart and being a prisoner-of-war, which allowed him between May 13, 2013 and Jan. 22, 2014 in Mine Hill to be the recipient of a deck. He admitted to a second count of theft by deception, acknowledging that between Sept. 1, 2014 and Oct. 2, 2014, in Mine Hill, he received $3,000 from a person identified as W.B. by pretending to be a Purple Heart recipient and in need of medical assistance.
In admitting to violating the Stolen Valor Act, Guidi agreed that in 2015 he deceived the Wounded Warriors in Action Foundation and the county Veterans Services Office by holding himself out as a decorated veteran. He acknowledged that he received a commendation and medal from the county, and was reimbursed for his travel and expenses by the Wounded Warriors in Action Foundation for a hunting trip he took to Tennessee.
Rappa, the assistant prosecutor, elicited further details from Guidi.
"Mr. Guidi, in 2015, you became a member of the Wounded Warriors in Action Foundation by misrepresenting that you were the recipient of the Purple Heart?" Rappa said. Guidi said yes, that he submitted false documents to the organization.
As a result, Guidi said, he was recommended for a hunting trip by the Wounded Warriors and was reimbursed for his travel expenses and later given a hunting bow at a veterans ceremony. Rappa listed a series of military awards and deeds that Guidi had purported as true but agreed were false, including service as a Green Beret and trained sniper, completion of military airborne school, and training at Quantico and Langley, which trains FBI agents and in Langley's case, CIA agents.
Guidi has a prior conviction for theft and was a star witness for the Morris County Prosecutor's Office in 1996 in a murder-for-hire trial.
In 2007, Guidi was indicted by a Morris County grand jury on charges of bilking three homeowners in Denville out of $63,901 in home improvements and landscaping projects that never were completed. He pleaded guilty to theft, according to a computer court record, but the exact sentence he received in 2009 was not immediately available.
Twenty years ago, Guidi was a controversial, key witness for the Morris County Prosecutor's Office in its murder-for hire trial against Pamela Young, who was charged and acquitted of trying to hire a hit-man to kill a man she briefly dated but who wound up harassing and stalking her. The trial was reported extensively by the Daily Record.
Guidi, then living in Parsippany, testified at trial in 1996 that he was involved in plans in 1994 to start a prostitution business but went to police because of threats from a rival prostitution ringleader. Guidi testified that he met Young in the course of business dealings and that she confided to him she wanted to find a hitman to kill a stalking ex-boyfriend. Guidi told the jury he alerted State Police to Young's alleged quest to find a hitman.
At a Memorial Day ceremony hosted by the Morris County freeholders in May 2015, Guidi was one of 10 veterans who received a distinguished service medal. He had described himself, in part, as a prisoner-of-war during the Vietnam War and alternatively gave his rank upon discharge from the U.S. Army in 1972 as a sergeant or captain. Wharton police, who cover Mine Hill, then received a tip about falsifications in Guidi's military record and an investigation was launched that resulted in his arrest in January 2016.
In an interview published in another New Jersey newspaper, Guidi said that he had been a Green Beret sniper during the Vietnam War and that he was wounded twice. He also said that he had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and terminal cancer due to Agent Orange, a chemical defoliant used during the war. He also said he had been awarded the Medal of Valor, a Bronze Star, and Purple Heart.
Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.