(WFRV) – A 34-year-old man from Wisconsin is facing two felony charges after he allegedly provided false statements about military service and leveraged that to get thousands of dollars.

According to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, 34-year-old Jakobie Timblin was arraigned in court in April on two counts regarding his alleged involvement in a stolen military valor case. An investigation revealed that Timblin allegedly started talking with a victim online back in 2015.

A year later, the victim was reportedly contacted by someone posing as Timblin’s mother, who asked the victim if she would write to him overseas. The reason Timblin was overseas was because he was allegedly serving as a member of the United States Marines.

Over the course of the next several years, the victim communicated with Timblin via letters. In 2019 the two met in person for the first time and started dating.

Also, in 2019, the victim was reportedly contacted by someone who claimed to be Timblin’s captain. He said he was working on putting a gift together for Timblin based on the ‘heroic work’ he did overseas.

The so-called captain asked the victim for a loan that would be paid back by the Department of Defense. The victim reportedly wrote a check for $5,000.

During the relationship, Timblin reportedly told multiple stories about his service and the injuries he received. He reportedly claimed that he was deployed five times.

On a trip to the victim’s family cabin, Timblin reportedly brought along his ‘dress blues’ which had multiple medals attached, including a purple heart. He also allegedly told a relative of the victim that he had recently learned of his mother’s death when he returned from deployment.

Timblin said he needed money to help with estate planning. He reportedly claimed that he was upset that a bill collector would harass a ‘military man of honor’ like himself. The relative repeatedly wrote him a check for $6,500.

He reportedly never paid the relative back. The relative ended up checking into the obituary of Timblin’s mother only to learn that she only had one son named Jacob Elliot.

The relative learned that Elliot was on extended release for a 2014 armed robbery. This is when the information was reported to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

A sergeant with the sheriff’s office, who is a Marine veteran, was shown a photograph of Timblin wearing the uniform. The sergeant reportedly saw discrepancies as to where the patches and medals were placed.

Authorities worked with the Marines to verify that Timblin never served in the armed forces. The investigation showed that Elliot changed his name to Timblin well after he met the victim. He also allegedly bought the medals and uniform online.

Over the period of time when the victim thought that Timblin was overseas, he was actually incarcerated in the Wisconsin State Prison System. He was released from prison in late 2018.

It is morally deplorable to be a military imposter and is particularly reprehensible to use society’s respect and admiration for the brave men and women that serve this great county for one’s gain. This case went even further when Timblin claimed to be a purple heart recipient which tramples on the honor of those that have been injured or worse, given up their life for one’s country.

Washington County Sheriff Martin Schulteis

Timblin is scheduled to have his plea/sentencing hearing on May 25 at 1:30 p.m. Court records show that he is facing two charges, both of which are felonies.

Elliot’s mugshot was taken from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections website, and the photo was taken on March 27, 2023. He has multiple listed aliases, which include Timblin.

No additional information was provided. Local 5 will update this story if more details are released.