PRISON FOR NAVAL ACADEMY GRADUATE AND
NUKE SUB SKIPPER - CMDR CHARLES COUGHLIN
(CLASS OF 1981) GETS THREE YEARS, FIVE
MONTHS IN SLAMMER AFTER CONVICTION HE
FILED CLAIM FOR BIG BUCKS AS "INJURED MAN"
IN 9/11 TERROR ATTACK ON PENTAGON - RAN IN
NEW YORK CITY MARATHON TWO WEEKS
AFTER ALLEGED "NECK SPRAIN" - COLLECTED
$330,000 FOR FAKED INJURY - FEDERAL JUDGE
ORDERS RETIRED NAVY CMDR MAKE RESTITUTION

© 2011 MilitaryCorruption.com

In the end, it was unmitigated greed that brought the retired Naval officer down. He really didn't need the money.

After all, Charles Coughlin, onetime skipper of nuclear submarines and a U.S. Naval Academy graduate (Class of 1981), had retired in 2002 on half his active duty pay and was working for big bucks as a government contractor.

However, in the wake of the devastating terrorist 911 attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon building, Coughlin saw a golden opportunity to score some very big money.

$CAMMING THE 911 VICTIMS COMPENSATION FUND

That fateful day of September 11, 2001, Coughlin fled the Pentagon right after the plane hit. Eyewitnesses said he re-entered the burning structure to save others trapped under debris. For his valor, Coughlin received the Meritorious Service Medal and a Purple Heart medal.

The way the former Navy commander saw it, he was "injured" and entitled to big bucks from the government's Victim Crime Compensation Board. Coughlin was offered $60,000, but he considered that "chump change" and filed an appeal asking for many times that amount. He claimed debris fell on his head and injured his neck during his forays into the burning building.

The Severna, MD. man scored some $330,000, but in the process attracted the attention of govt. agents, suspicious of the real extent of Coughlin's "injuries."

COUGHLIN RUNS NEW YORK CITY MARATHON DESPITE ALLEGED "INJURIES"

Just two months after the terror attack occurred, Coughlin finished the New York City Marathon in only three hours and 43 minutes. Coughlin also was caught on camera playing lacrosse and basketball. The feds deduced Coughlin was milking the system for his own personal gain and didn't deserve the huge financial bonanza he received.

It took three trials for prosecutors to finally send CMDR Coughlin off to prison. The first one ended with a split decision, which included three counts of mail fraud tossed out. That was 2008.

By the time the second trial came around, wife Sabrina had been dropped as a target. Prosecutors did that to focus on the real guilty party - Coughlin himself. They failed again with a deadlocked jury, and the arrogant Navy officer dodged a bullet once more.

But they say "the third time's the charm," and so it was in federal court in Washington's District of Columbia.

FORMER COMMANDER APPEALS FINE, PRISON TERM

Coughlin was found guilty of scamming the victims' crime compensation fund and admonished from the bench by Chief District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth, who told Coughlin he had "ruined" his life. In addition, the judge ruled that Coughlin must pay $151,054 to the above-mentioned Victims' Crime Compensation Fund.

The once-cocky Coughlin had little to say just before the verdict was read. "I take responsibility for the errors and mistakes I made," the retired commander said in a low voice.

The 52 year-old USNA and Harvard Business School grad will remain free on bail while his conviction and three year, five month prison sentence is appealed.