Man accused of falsifying military service charged with 3 felonies

A Tempe man is accused of telling a tall tale about his supposed military service to obtain veteran status for his driver’s license and vehicle plates.

The Arizona Department of Transportation says the agency’s detectives have arrested 45-year-old Eric Wolfe on suspicion of forgery and using falsified documents.

Wolfe was booked Tuesday into the custody of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office filed a direct complaint against Wolfe for three felony counts of forgery and possessing a forged instrument. Wolfe’s initial court appearance was Thursday.

ADOT officials say Wolfe submitted a falsified DD form 214 in March to a Motor Vehicle Division representative to get the special license designation. That form is a separation document military members receive when they are formally discharged from the military.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, however, determined Wolfe never served in the U.S. Air Force as he claimed.

Wolfe also allegedly used the forged documents to get license plates designated for veterans in March and last month — one for his car and another for his new motorcycle, investigators say.

ADOT’s Office of the Inspector General says it’s continuing its investigation of Wolfe to determine if he used the fraudulent credentials to defraud businesses and other organizations for a business, Project 22 LLC and a non-profit organization called Freedom K-9 Rehab. On the Arizona Corporation Commission website, Wolfe is listed as the sole member of Project 22, a limited liability corporation. He’s president and director according to that same database for Freedom K-9 Rehab, again, a non-profit organization.