Company Faces Fines for Selling 300 Unauthorized Medals of Honor
The company that holds the government contract to manufacture the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest combat decoration, admitted Friday that it sold 300 unauthorized medals for $75 each.
H. L. I. Lordship Industries Inc. of Hauppauge, N.Y., said it will plead guilty in federal court Nov. 4 to making unauthorized medals and pay up to $225,000 in fines. Under the plea bargain, there will be no further prosecution of Lordship or any individuals, said its lawyer Frederick Hafetz.
Neither the FBI and nor federal prosecutors would comment.
In the 134 years since the Medal of Honor was authorized, 3,401 people have been awarded it, most posthumously, for risking their life in combat beyond the call of duty.
Hafetz said that a Lordship executive sold 300 unauthorized Medals of Honor to an individual for $22,500 from 1991 to 1994. Bogus decorations often land in memorabilia shops.
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