Levy Admits Embellishing Military Record

Camden, N.J - The former mayor of Atlantic City pleaded guilty Thursday to lying to enhance his veterans benefits, a crime that played a role in his bizarre three - week disappearance earlier this fall. Making his first public appearance since leaving office Oct. 10, Robert Levy admitted to falsely claiming to have been awarded two military medals and embellishing his military in order to receive more money from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.Levy admitted fabricating stories that as a soldier in Vietnam, he has been left in the jungle for weeks along with South Vietnamese troops he was working with to fend for himself. He also claimed to have made a number of parachute jumps when he did not. As a federal judge read the accusations, Levy said yes your honor but nothing else. Levy was elected in 2005 to preside over a city where the political corruption is almost as famous as the casinos. Four of the last nine mayors have been charged with taking bribes three men who were on the city council last year are now in prison in another bribery case. Levy disappeared from city life in late September before resurfacing to resign. He cited ill health and the federal investigation into his war record as his reason for leaving. The Press of Atlantic City reported last fall that the Vietnam Veterans claims that he was a member of the Green Berets were untrue. He apologized, but federal authorities have been looking into whether Levy made that claim to increase his veteran benefit payments. During his absence from city hall, Levy spent time in a substance abuses and mental health treatment abuse and mental health treatment center in northern New Jersey. Jacobs described the mayors time there as a detox situation.