Colorado man accused of posing as California veteran for 24 years

A Colorado man is accused of stealing an Army veteran's identity and using it for 24 years to get married, obtain free medical treatment and even serve as president of a VFW post.

Mark Mulcahy, 46, faces felony charges of identity theft, forgery and criminal impersonation. He was being held in the Garfield County jail Friday in lieu of $45,000 bail. It wasn't known whether he had an attorney.

Mulcahy obtained a military retirement document in 1984 in the name of David Keith Anderson of Modesto, Calif., according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Anderson, also known as David Ronayne, died in a bicycle accident in 2006, the affidavit says.

It wasn't clear if Mulcahy had ever served in the military.

The affidavit says Mulcahy lived under Anderson's name in New Castle, 130 miles west of Denver, and used his identity to have surgery at no charge at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Denver. The upper gastric hernia surgery cost $6,296.

In 2004, Mulcahy joined a VFW post in nearby Glenwood Springs, saying he had retired after 20 years in the Marine Corps, the affidavit says.

He later became post president but members complained about missed meetings and other problems, and when state VFW officials tried to contact him, they were told he had moved away, the affidavit says.

Mulcahy married under Anderson's name and hid his true identity from his wife, the document says.

The VA's inspector general began investigating Mulcahy after a phone call from Mulcahy's wife, authorities said, but it wasn't clear how she learned of the alleged deception nor why she called authorities.