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File photo of the Pentagon on fire after being struck by a plane on 11 September 2001. AP Photo/Tom Horan/PA

Retired US naval officer convicted of fraud over 9/11 injury claims

Charles Coughlin claimed he was injured twice after a plane struck the Pentagon on 11 September and was awarded medals for his bravery that day.

A RETIRED NAVAL officer honoured for his valour during the 11 September attack on the Pentagon was found guilty today of defrauding the victims’ compensation fund by exaggerating his injuries.

After a three-week trial, a federal court jury found retired Commander Charles Coughlin of Severna Park, Maryland, guilty of making a false claim and stealing public money after he got $331,034 from the fund set up by Congress after the 2001 attacks.

Coughlin’s claim said he was in constant pain after being injured twice on 11 September, 2001 — first when objects fell on him when a hijacked plane struck the building and later when he went back inside to rescue others and hit his head. But prosecutors said Coughlin, now 52, continued playing lacrosse and ran a marathon after the attacks and lied when he claimed he needed surgery.

Purple Heart

The case was not a slam dunk for prosecutors: It took three trials to convict him. Coughlin was first tried in 2009 along with his wife, also accused of making a false claim to the fund in support of her husband’s application. The jury found Charles Coughlin not guilty on three mail fraud counts, but couldn’t agree on a verdict on four counts against him or the charge against his wife. Afterward jurors said they thought Coughlin was the kind of man who would exercise through pain and seemed credible when testifying that he didn’t lie.

Prosecutors dropped the case against Sabrina Coughlin, but put Charles Coughlin on trial again a few months later on the remaining four counts. In the midst of that trial, a Supreme Court decision changed the standard for retrying defendants after a hung jury, eliminating two remaining mail fraud counts against Coughlin.

This time he was tried on the remaining two counts, which were the most serious against him.

Coughlin bowed his head and pursed his lips as the guilty verdict was read from the jury of seven men and five women.

Coughlin is a graduate of the US Naval Academy and Harvard Business School who spent most of his 21-year naval career in the submarine service. He had a top-secret security clearance and commanded nuclear submarines. He was working at the Pentagon when a plane hijacked by terrorists crashed into the building about 75 feet from his office. He said he went back inside the burning building to help rescue others, and he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal and Purple Heart for his actions and injuries that day.

Coughlin’s claim to the victims’ compensation fund said he was left with constant pain in his neck, headaches, weakness in his left arm and numbness in his left hand and elbow. He said it changed his life physically — he used to work out daily, play basketball and lacrosse, run marathons and work on projects around the house.

But prosecutor Susan Menzer said Coughlin ran another marathon in November 2001 and showed the jury a picture of him running on the lacrosse field gripping a stick, taken after the attacks. She also showed jurors copies of check carbons she said he gave to the fund, falsely claiming they were for services he could no longer perform around the house. For example, she said he claimed a cheque for his lacrosse league dues was actually for someone to lay mulch in his yard. Coughlin said they were not fraudulent but mistakes due to sloppy accounting by his wife.

After accepting the verdict, US District Judge Royce Lamberth sent jurors back to deliberate over whether Coughlin should have to forfeit to the government the family’s two vehicles — a 2002 Mercedes Benz C230 and a 2002 Honda Odyssey — as proceeds of his theft because Coughlin paid them off after receiving his check from the fund. The government also has a civil case pending against the Coughlins in which they could potentially be fined up to the three times the amount of their award from the fund.

His sentencing was set for 21 November.

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14 Comments
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    Mute Dave O'Shea
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    Aug 29th 2011, 10:45 PM

    It’s America… He will be punished, in Ireland , a nice big fat pension

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    Mute Joan caulfield
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    Aug 29th 2011, 10:17 PM

    Some people will do any thing for money.. hope he gets jail….

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    Mute brian mac sweeney
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    Aug 29th 2011, 11:24 PM

    I think the journal miss spelled missile, instead they spelt it ‘plane’

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    Mute Hugh Janus
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    Aug 30th 2011, 10:17 AM

    ‘Spelt’? This article has nothing to do with bread.

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    Mute Bertie SirCastic
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    Aug 29th 2011, 10:36 PM

    Schmuck! Bow your head in shame!

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    Mute keyese
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    Aug 30th 2011, 12:09 AM

    ya because they blew the crap out of their intelligence office ??? get ur head out of the fog jim corr

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    Mute Hugh Janus
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    Aug 30th 2011, 10:19 AM

    I know Jim Corr is being heavily criticised as a mad man but there are many that support his theories (indeed, he didn’t contrive them in the first place). Watch ‘The Zeitgeist’ (particularly parts 2 & 3). I think it’s on YouTube.

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    Mute Hugh Janus
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    Aug 30th 2011, 10:22 AM

    There are many that support Jim Corr’s belief (indeed he wasn’t the first to put forward the theory). Watch ‘The Zeitgeist’ (particularly part 2 on YouTube).

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    Mute Brian Lyons
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    Aug 30th 2011, 11:33 AM
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    Mute Hugh Janus
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    Aug 30th 2011, 10:36 PM

    @Brian > Thanks for those links. I’m certainly not a supporter of Jim Corr or The Zeitgeist movement. I was just hoping to demonstrate how some people are brainwashed by conspiracy theories (it helps rationalise things).

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    Mute Darren
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    Aug 30th 2011, 7:23 AM

    Shame for sure but I hope they don’t forget his actions when they sentence him. Sounds like a good guy who was tempted by the possibility of easy money? I think an easy trap to fall in to.

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    Mute mart_n
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    Aug 29th 2011, 10:51 PM

    Capatilism

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    Mute mart_n
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    Aug 29th 2011, 10:53 PM

    ha.. I spelled it incorrectly. If only I could afford schooling

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    Mute Phil Mc Donald
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    Aug 30th 2011, 12:14 PM

    Of all the 9/11 conspiracies out there, the one that bugs me is how did the US authorities retrieve the supposed terrorist cell leader Mohammed Atta’s passport out of the rubble? Was there ever an explanation for how it survived the blast?

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