Man Accused of Posing as Army General

An Indiana man has been charged with impersonating an Army brigadier general--appearing at business meetings in full military uniform and with a Medal of Honor around his neck--to obtain nearly $2 million in construction contracts from Irvine offices of Taco Bell and its parent company, PepsiCo.

Guadalupe Deleon Gonzales, 60, appeared Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elgin Edwards for arraignment on two counts of impersonating an Army officer.

The arraignment was postponed to today, but Gonzales’ lawyer, federal Public Defender H. Dean Steward, said his client would plead not guilty to the charges. If convicted he would face a maximum prison sentence of six years.

Steward said Gonzales, who was being held at the Santa Ana City Jail, blamed his arrest on a former business partner in Indiana who was “spreading these bitter rumors about him.”

Court records allege that Gonzales employed an elaborate scheme to enter the corporate offices of giant corporations and walk away with lucrative contracts that were won based on his purported standing as a general.

Gary L. Price, an investigator with the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command in Laguna Niguel, stated in a court affidavit that Gonzales first met PepsiCo officials in July, 1993, when he proposed to install new equipment in company buildings.

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During that meeting, Gonzales claimed that he was in the process of retiring from active duty after serving in the Army for 31 years, Price said. He boasted about receiving the Medal of Honor, a Silver Star and three Purple Hearts, according to Price.

During a two-year period ending in May, PepsiCo made payments totaling $1.7 million to Gonzales’ Inca Continental Corp. of Wanamaker, Ind., according to court records.

PepsiCo officials could not be reached for comment.

But Price said Taco Bell officials appeared equally impressed with Gonzales’ “military position and grade.”

On meeting the supposed general, Christopher Townsend, Taco Bell’s senior director of government and community affairs, “felt an individual of Gonzales’ apparent experience and stature would certainly do a good job for the corporation and he was in total agreement with the decision to hire Gonzales,” Price said.

Johnathan Blum, vice president for corporate affairs at Taco Bell, said his company employed Gonzales on the advice of PepsiCo officials.

Blum said Gonzales’ company installed some equipment on “a very minor project” in the Midwest. Gonzales received $19,000 for his services, “which were completed to our satisfaction,” Blum said.

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According to Price, the first indication that Gonzales had impersonated an Army officer came in July when his business partner, identified as Allen Kirkendall, called PepsiCo to report that Gonzales was not a general and that his background should be investigated.

That task fell to Price, who later taped a conversation in which Gonzales bragged about his military career. Price said he could find no records that Gonzales had served in the military.

The investigator later obtained a search warrant for Gonzales’ house, where he found an Army dress green uniform with two stars and the Medal of Honor ribbon.

Steward, Gonzales’ attorney, said his client maintained that he had legitimate agreements with the companies and that he had completed his contracts.

On the allegation that Gonzales posed as an Army officer to obtain the contracts, Steward said, “At this point, he’s not saying anything about that . . . on his lawyer’s advice.”