Richard Glen Strandlof had the nation fooled: He claimed to have been at the Pentagon on 9/11 and to have been injured when his Humvee was blown apart in Iraq, two assertions that helped him become a popular activist for veteran rights. With those claims, Strandlof, who went by the name Rick Duncan, founded the Colorado Veterans Alliance. Sadly, he was nothing but a charlatan.

While preparing documents to make the CVA a nonprofit, the group’s members discovered inconsistencies in Strandlof’s story, and sent the case to the FBI, who determined that "Duncan" was really an ex-con and a drifter. They arrested him Tuesday and are holding him on $1,000 bond. While it’s a sad story for the CVA, which will now disband, it’s a true blow to the veterans’ rights movement.

Colorado Rep. Jared Polis remarked to The New York Times, “I was disappointed to learn of the lies spread by Rick Duncan. His fraud is a slap in the face to veterans everywhere and a betrayal to us all.” More than that, it’s sick — manipulating both a terrorist attack and a war, not to mention thousands of deaths, for personal gain.

But, then again, if he was doing it for the well-being of veterans, does that make it OK?