Purple Heart lies cost $750,000

Federal prosecutors said a former soldier who lied his way to a Purple Heart by faking injuries from the Iraq War cheated the government out of more than $750,000. Prosecutors are seeking a five-year prison term, arguing that Darryl Wright falsified statements from fellow soldiers to obtain two awards — a Combat Action Badge and the Purple Heart, reserved for those wounded in action — and then parlayed those medals into a wide range of disability and other benefits, including forgiveness of more than $40,000 in student loans.