Mass. Marine vet sentenced after lying about Iraq IED injury to obtain $344,000 in VA benefits, Purple Heart

BOSTON, Mass. (WLNE) — A United States Marine veteran has been sentenced after admitting to submitting a false Purple Heart application and receiving $344,000 in undue Veterans Affairs benefits.

Paul John Herbert, 54, of Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, was sentenced in U.S. District Court Tuesday to two years of supervised release with the first year under home confinement.

This sentence stems from Herbert’s March guilty plea to one count of making false statements.

He was first indicted on this charge in September of 2023 by a federal grand jury.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Massachusetts, Herbert falsely claimed in statements to the VA that he was suffering from disability due to a an IED-related injury he sustained while deployed in Iraq.

Herbert’s initial claim came on October 13, 2010, and he was overpaid $344,000 by the VA between January 1, 2010 and March 1, 2023.

On October 24, 2018, Herbert also issued a request to his U.S. representative to help him with an application for a Purple Heart.

In Herbert’s notarized letter, he repeated the false claim of an IED explosion related injury while deployed.