The Army Times reports:
Lecturer William G. Hillar entranced audiences as a globe-trotting, highly trained, retired Green Beret colonel whose attempt to rescue his daughter from kidnappers inspired the hit movie, “Taken.”
But it was not really his life, it was all lies.
Hillar, 66, of Millersville, Md., pleaded guilty March 29 to a single count of wire fraud in a federal court in Baltimore. As part of his plea, Hillar agreed to pay back $171,000 he made by lecturing universities, soldiers, and federal and local law enforcement agencies while falsely claiming he was a counter-terrorism expert and had earned doctorate from the University of Oregon.
He also agreed to perform 500 hours of community service at the Maryland State Veterans Cemeteries.
“William G. Hillar lived a lie and based his teaching career on military experience he did not have and credentials that he did not earn,” U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement. “He was never a colonel, never served in the U.S. Army or the Special Forces, never was deployed to exotic locales and never received training in counter-terrorism and psychological warfare while in the armed forces.”
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