Former A.C. mayor gets probation

Former Atlantic City Mayor Robert Levy was sentenced to three years' probation yesterday for defrauding the government of about $25,000 in veterans' benefits by exaggerating his service record in Vietnam.

Levy, 61, also must pay restitution and a $5,000 fine, U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle ruled after questioning the defense about aspects of Levy's record that still clash with government accounts.

Though the "fog of war" often prevents accurate recordkeeping, Simandle said, Levy's continued claims of taking part in certain "pathfinder" missions are unfounded.

"This shows unfortunately Mr. Levy has a lot of work to do before coming to grips with his experience in Vietnam," Simandle said.

Such recovery would be more likely in therapy than prison, he said.

Levy attracted national attention last year when he disappeared for two weeks, resurfacing to resign as mayor Oct. 10, 2007. While the "missing mayor" underwent detox for prescription painkillers at a North Jersey clinic, the city business administrator and City Council members fought for control of the resort, where Levy was once best known as head of the Atlantic City Beach Patrol.

He pleaded guilty to federal charges in November, admitting to Simandle that he lied about being abandoned for weeks in the jungle and making numerous parachute jumps.

Levy began his 20-year Army career days after his 17th birthday and volunteered to go to Vietnam, his lawyer Edwin Jacobs said yesterday. He served as a communications specialist, receiving a Bronze Star for each of his two yearlong tours.

During this time, Jacobs said, Levy was exposed to scenes of carnage that later triggered post-traumatic stress disorder, a diagnosis Simandle said seemed irrefutable. The award of $25,000 in benefits was based, however, on the fraudulent claims Levy allowed to persist in his file.

Veterans Affairs officials held a hearing in January about whether Levy should receive benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder. The decision is pending.

Though the Army discharged Levy in 1984, his symptoms of emotional distress did not become obvious until after the Sept. 11 attacks, Jacobs said. He entered therapy at his wife's urging and, in 2003, having received a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, filed the false claims that netted him $25,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Richardson said Levy "served his government honorably."

"He was honorably discharged," he said. "The problem was in the paperwork and the aftermath.

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Levy spoke yesterday only when Simandle questioned the truth of his "pathfinder" mission claims.

"I just volunteered and went," he told the judge, who had asked why a communications specialist would have been assigned to missions that required particular certifications. "I picked up my M16 and my radio and went along."

"I wasn't a hero or something, running around like Rambo," he said.

Levy was soft-spoken during his courtroom appearance, often resting his head in his heads as Simandle referenced the false military claims.

At one point, Simandle cited reports that Levy had lied about his combat experience to impress his father. The judge also noted the tremendous pressures Levy faced as a 17-year-old asked to fight in a war where he saw fellow soldiers commit suicide and others killed in explosions.

"This is a sad case of human failure," Simandle said.

Levy's military record drew the attention of federal investigators after coverage of his 2005 campaign for mayor revealed he had falsely claimed to have served as a Green Beret.

Though Richardson noted Levy's false military claims had come to light during a campaign, he agreed with Simandle that the case was not one of political corruption.

"He just happened to be the mayor," Richardson said.

Still, the affair marks only another legal entanglement of an Atlantic City politician. Levy was the fifth of the city's last nine mayors to leave office amid scandal.

His 2007 resignation concluded a year in which three members of the City Council were convicted on corruption charges.

The probation term issued yesterday was within sentencing guidelines. Simandle took into account Levy's service both as mayor and as head of the Beach Patrol, as well as his lack of so much as a motor vehicle violation, when determining the sentence.

"This is his first and I would predict his only brush with criminal law," Simandle said.