Woman Will Serve A Year And A Day For Ruse

As a woman in uniform, 35-year old Lisa Jane Phillips got a lot of respect. She also got more than $41,000 in free tuition, wearing the insignia of an Air Force captain. Phillips wore medals ranging from the Purple Heart to the Bronze Star. She claimed to have flown fighters in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

There's just one thing. Lisa Jane Phillips never served in Afghanistan. She never served in Iraq. She never flew fighters. In fact... she was never in the military at all. It was all a fake.

But the prison uniform she's wearing now is certainly real.

Last week, Phillips was sentenced in a Raleigh, NC court to spend a year and a day behind bars for impersonating a military officer.

Court documents show she bought the medals and the uniforms off the internet, and started wearing flight suits to classes in August 2002. She explained absences from school in 2003 and 2004 as deployments abroad.... and even claimed to have suffered "war-induced anguish", and life-threatening injuries.

The Raleigh News-Observer reports faculty and staff of Meredith College bought it... even hanging a Blue Star service flag in the college president's office. The banner is traditionally displayed by military families to show a loved one is serving in the armed forces.

Perhaps it was the World War II medal she wore on her uniform... but the police chief at Meredith College became suspicious last year.

After three years of a spiraling lie that, at one point, had her claiming to have been awarded medals by the president on Air Force One... Lisa's game was over. She's apologized to Meredith College and has paid back the tuition.

So... why did she do it? In a sentencing hearing last week, Phillip's lawyers told US District Court Judge Terrence Boyle it started as a simple lie to a friend... and escalated from there. The lawyers said their client was abused as a child, and abandoned at 16... and as an adult, was addicted to painkillers and sleeping pills.

"I don't think she intended to dishonor or disrespect anyone in the military," said one of Phillips' attorneys, William Webb Jr. "I think she just wanted people to like and respect her."

While her sentence was reduced due to mitigating circumstances, prosecutors said Phillips needed to serve some hard time for what they called an "elaborate ruse."

During sentencing, assistant US Attorney David Hayden -- himself a veteran, according to the paper -- read excerpts from e-mails veterans sent prosecutors. One email Hayden read likely sums up the feeling of many legitimate veterans:

"She sought to make herself a hero and example. I say fine -- let's make an example of her so that others will be less likely to follow suit."

FMI: www.meredith.edu