Ex-mayor of Atlantic City pleads guilty

The former mayor of Atlantic City pleaded guilty Thursday to lying to enhance his veterans benefits, a crime that played a role in his three-week disappearance starting in late September.

Making his first public appearance since resigning Oct. 10, Democrat Robert Levy admitted he had falsely claimed to have been awarded two military medals and had embellished his military record in order to increase his Veterans Affairs disability benefits.

As a soldier in Vietnam, Levy admitted, he was not really left in the jungle for weeks along with South Vietnamese troops he was working with. He also did not make a number of parachute jumps, as he’d previously claimed.

However, Levy is a decorated Army veteran who earned eight medals including two Bronze Stars, said his lawyer, Edwin Jacobs.

The increased benefits over four years came to a total of $24,683. It was unclear whether he would have to repay that.

Levy is scheduled to be sentenced in February. As part of his plea deal, he agreed not to appeal any sentence of six months or less.

He was elected in 2005 to lead a city known for political corruption. Four of the last nine mayors have been charged with taking bribes; three city councilmen from last year are in prison in another bribery case.