A Wakefield veteran admitted in federal court on Wednesday to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in government benefits based on phony Vietnam War service records, according to the office of US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. Albert L. Seely, 67, a former Marine, pleaded guilty in US District Court in Boston to theft of government funds from October 1999 to July 2014 after receiving $174,000 in benefits to which he was not entitled. After serving in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967, Seely filed discharge papers with the Veterans Benefits Administration in 1970 that included false information, such as military decorations he had never received.
Rachel Riley can be reached at rachel.riley@globe.com.
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