I missed this one, good article Caitlin.
[Don't mess with that Hinton dude!
]
Team Sergeant
Elon award recipient arrested
by Caitlin O'Donnell, February 1, 2011
According to multiple news sources, the FBI arrested Bill Hillar, a 2010 recipient of the Hometown Hero award from Elon University, at his home in Maryland Jan. 25. He is charged with defrauding clients after charging them for his expertise with the Green Berets, and claiming to have extensive military experience.
Hillar claimed to have been a retired colonel of the United States Army Special Forces.
The investigation began with the MultnomahCountySheriff'sDepartment in Portland, Ore., and moved to the federal level, according to Keith Bickford, director of the Oregon Anti- Human Trafficking Task Force. Hillar could not be reached for comment.
Jeff Hinton, a retired Special Forces Master Sergeant with the association of Professional Soldiers, along with Mary and Chuck Schantag, who also work to expose Green Beret fraud, discovered that Hillar served eight years in the Coast Guard and was never a member of the Special Forces.
"This is not the first time we've done this," Hinton said. "We don't go after the guy who claims it sitting at the bar. We go after the guys that make themselves public figures and say they can offer training."
Elon University first received notice concerning the validity of Hillar's background a few hours before the Hometown Hero ceremony took place Nov. 8.
Phil Smith, university chaplain, said the university received an e-mail with an anonymous tip. The tipster claimed military involvement and accused Hillar of misrepresenting his military record.
Hillar was awarded for his work as an advocate against human trafficking. Elon University freshmen nominate people for the award based on their interactions with them, and freshmen class officers select the final three recipients.
Smith met with Hillar before the ceremony and explained to him that the university had received an e-mail questioning the validity of his military record, to which Hillar said that it had happened once before.
His elaborate story began to unravel last year after students at the Monterey Institute of International Studies began to question his credentials. Around the same time, Hinton began investigating Hillar's records and published findings questioning Hillar's military record on Oct. 28.
Hinton found Hillar had fabricated information about his military record and conned multiple law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.
Within two weeks of Hinton's published accusations, Hillar's website, citing his credentials and advertising his training workshops, was removed from the Internet. Around that time, Hinton confirmed that the FBI was on Hillar's case.
Hinton has been in contact with the FBI about the investigation concerning Hillar and said he was contacted the morning of Jan. 25 with news of his arrest.
"Bill's con-games are over," Hinton said.
http://www.elon.edu/pendulum/Story.aspx?id=4750