Veteran,48, lied about being injured in combat in Iraq to claim over $700,000 in disability benefits and a Purple Heart

Darryl Lee Wright pleaded guilty to two counts of felony wire fraud earlier this year

A veteran in Washington state claimed over $700,000 in federal benefits after lying about being severely disabled.

Darryl Lee Wright pleaded guilty to two counts of felony wire fraud earlier this year for fabricating claims of disability and receiving payment from the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

The 48-year-old claimed that he was severely disabled from being wounded in combat in Iraq, and as a result, collected $751,400 in federal benefits.    

Wright was found living well in Snoqualmie, dating two women simultaneously and working a steady job, despite claiming that he was incapacitated by wounds physical and psychological that he suffered in Iraq while serving in the Idaho National Guard in Iraq, Seattlepi.com reported. 

He was caught telling a war story that wasn't true about his 2005 tour in Iraq. 

Wright claimed that he was injured in a rocket attack near Kirkuk when the vehicle he was in had been blown out from under him. 

But that was a lie, as the rocket landed 300 feet away from his patrol and caused little damage and none to Wright. 

Wright (pictured) A veteran in Washington state claimed over $700,000 in federal benefits after lying about being severely disabled. The 48-year-old claimed that he was severely disabled from being wounded in combat in Iraq

Wright claimed that he was injured in a rocket attack near Kirkuk when the vehicle (above) he was in had been blown out from under him. He claimed that it destroyed his Humvee

That small crater pictured above is the actual impact site of a rocket that landed 300 feet from  Wright

That near miss incident served as the basis for his lie and fraud scheme. 

'Wright liked telling the story about the rocket incident, and it gradually grew into a full-fledged tale of battle,' Assistant U.S. Attorney David Reese Jennings said in court papers.

In order to prove the lie, he created fake documents and pressured government workers in an effort to force his way into thousands of dollars of benefits that are meant to help Americans who were actually injured while serving. 

Wright filed the bogus paperwork with the Army under the names of people he actually served with, Jennings said.  

Despite claiming to be housebound by his disabilities suffered in Iraq, Wright coached basketball and served on the Snoqualmie Planning Commission as chairman. 

He did all of this while claiming that he couldn't go out in public or ride the bus because of PTSD.  

Wright's lies won him a medal that's reserved for soldiers who have engaged in combat, the Purple Heart and a Combat Action Badge.  

'Wright built an entire myth system on these two awards, relying on them to obtain every possible benefit that might be available to a wounded veteran,' Jennings said in court papers.

Jennings said that Wright used each medal to increase his case for another. The medals helped Wright to draw substantial amounts of money from the Veteran's Administration coffers. 

The rocket caused little damage to the area and none to Wright. He claimed to be housebound by disabilities suffered in the rocket attack incident 

In claiming that he was injured while serving in Iraq with the Idaho National Guard, Wright lied his way into a Purple Heart award (above) and in 2005

Wright also stole from the Department of Education and Washington state's unemployment assistance program. 

Taking steps even further, Wright used his fake disabilities to excuse his violent and bullying behavior, Jennings said. 

He sued the Department of Commerce, his employer, claiming that he had been discriminated against because he was a wounded veteran.      

He enlisted his friends and family in the Snoqualmie area to help him in the fraud scheme, prosecutors say. 

The thousands of dollars paid to him were enough to finance a full-time live-in caregiver that he claimed he needed to manage his injuries. 

In actuality, the payments for assistance went to his sister, Karen Wright.  

On August 17, his sister was sentenced to probation for her role in the crime.

The Boise State graduate kept up with the lies even after he was confronted about it by investigators in 2014. 

'He is truly shameless about his mendacity,' Jennings said. 

However, Wright was far from disabled. He is pictured above outside of his home in a photo taken by investigators, though he claimed to be housebound by the disabilities 

'He shrugs off getting caught lying with the casualness others might display about getting caught without an umbrella.' 

Christina Jackson, the Commerce Department employee who first caught onto his scheme in 2009, was struggling to keep her job after her superiors sided with Wright. 

It took roughly five years to pass before Wright was finally prosecuted. 

But in that time, Jackson had spent more than $20,000 in legal bills trying to fight the claims that she wronged Wright, when she hadn't.  

'Cristina Jackson's willingness to come forward was critical to uncovering the truth,' Jennings previously told The Associated Press. 

'But for her actions, law enforcement would not have had what they needed to uncover the fraud.'

It's unclear to authorities how far his fraud scheme actually extends, despite a lengthy investigation process.   

Wright claimed that he couldn't go out in public or ride the bus because of crushing PTSD. He is pictured above mowing his lawn outside of his home in a photo taken by investigators

'Wright is such a prodigious liar that it is impossible to know the truth,' Jennings said in court papers. 

'The number of lies, false documents, and the extensiveness of his scheme are without comparison.'

Wright could spend the next five years in prison, as this is the sentence that federal prosecutors have asked that U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle to impose during his sentencing.

Despite pleaded guilty, Wright still argued that his fraud scheme didn't cost the government as much as prosecutors claim it did. 

His defense attorney, Christopher Black, said that his client is owed some of the assistance he received and the total loss to the government is actually between $15,000 to $40,000.   

Wright is currently not in custody and is set to be sentenced on June 6.