"Medal winner" pleads not guilty

From Will Bigham at our sister paper, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin:

LOS ANGELES - The local water board member charged with falsely claiming to have won the Medal of Honor pleaded not guilty today during an arraignment hearing in a federal court downtown.

Xavier Alvarez, who represents south Pomona on the governing board of the Three Valleys Municipal Water District, was charged by federal authorities in September.

Trial was set for Jan. 22. He was appointed a public defender.

Alvarez was tape recorded making the medal claim during the July 23 meeting of the Walnut Valley Water District, where he spoke to the board after being introduced as a guest.

At the meeting, Alvarez said he was wounded multiple times while serving as a Marine during the Vietnam War.

He later admitted he never served in the military.

Alvarez was censured by the Three Valleys board on Oct. 26 for illegally funnelling spousal health benefits to a woman who divorced him in 2002.

Other claims the 49-year-old Pomona native has made about his past appear to be untrue.

He claims to have earned an engineering degree from Cal Poly Pomona, though the school has no record of him ever attending.

He listed his occupation on last November's ballot as "engineer." He has refused to publicly disclose where he works and whether he is employed.

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