Former police officer indicted for alleged theft, lying

Shane Ladner was arrested June 12 and charged with four counts of misdemeanor theft by deception, as well as one count each of false swearing and making a false statement, both felonies under the law. Ladner posted his $23,100 bond about an hour after being booked in to the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center.

A Cherokee County Grand Jury handed down a six-count indictment against a former Holly Springs Police officer accused of falsifying a military document in order to obtain a Purple Heart license plate from the state of Georgia, which, in turn, exempted him from paying the annual ad valorem tax on his vehicle.
Theft by deception charges were levied against Shane Ladner in the summer of 2013 following a Cherokee Sheriff’s Office investigation into allegations that Ladner had forged a certificate of release or discharge from active duty (DD Form 214) to indicate that he had received a Purple Heart.
The Georgia Department of Revenue requires veterans applying for the vanity plate to provide either a DD-214, a Purple Heart certificate, the actual medal reflecting the registrant’s name or a letter from the Veteran’s Administration. 

If the vanity plate is issued, the veteran is then exempt from paying the annual ad valorem tax. 

It is unclear which of the above requirements Ladner provided to the Cherokee County Tax Commissioner’s Office; however, records obtained by the Ledger-News from the National Archives in St. Louis, Mo., prove that the veteran is not a Purple Heart recipient and, therefore, should not have been a candidate for the vanity plate and tax exemption. 

According to the Grand Jury indictment, Ladner is charged with five counts of theft by deception for falsely giving the impression that he had been awarded a Purple Heart by the United States Army to avoid paying less than $500 in ad valorem taxes.

He additionally was indicted for lying to a Cherokee Sheriff’s Office investigator in May 2013. 

In the interview with the investigator, Ladner allegedly claimed that shrapnel from a grenade explosion in Central America wounded him when his unit came under hostile fire. He maintained that he earned a Purple Heart from this incident. 

The Ledger-News conducted an independent investigation into the validity of Ladner’s DD-214 the summer before last and determined that not only had the former Holly Springs police officer not obtained a Purple Heart, but he also did not serve in the conflict he claimed to have been wounded in.

Ladner’s forged DD-214, which he provided to the City of Holly Springs when applying for a position with the police department in 2010, indicated that he had served in Operation Just Cause in Panama; however, he was still in high school during this conflict.

According to records with the National Archives, Ladner, after graduating from high school, was stationed in Honduras as a military police officer, but he only served overseas for about a month. 

Ladner’s attorneys argued that the operation in Panama was a top-secret mission, but official military records do not indicate such a mission existed.

Ladner left his job with the City of Holly Springs in April 2013 after sustaining an injury in a train accident in Midland, Texas, the previous fall. Ladner and his wife, Meg, had gone to Texas to participate in a parade honoring wounded veterans and their families. 

The Ladners were among 17 injured when a Union Pacific train plowed into a parade float carrying some 25 wounded veterans and their families. Four veterans were killed in the accident, and Meg Ladner suffered severe injuries, which led her to lose a leg. 

Ladner was chosen to participate in Show of Support’s Hunt for Heroes because he allegedly claimed to have been wounded twice in combat.