Arizona moving company owner who faked military service sentenced to 10.5 years in prison

PHOENIX – An Arizona moving company owner who based his business on a faked military career is heading to prison, authorities said Wednesday.

John Hoyt Fullen, 42, of Prescott was sentenced to 10.5 years on Monday after a jury previously found him guilty on fraud and forgery charges, the Yavapai County Attorney’s Office announced.

Fullen promoted his business, American Veteran Movers, as being veteran owned and operated, but he never served in the military, prosecutors said. Some of the company’s employees were veterans, but Fullen fully owned and operated it from 2017 to 2020.

“Mr. Fullen, a man with a lengthy felony record, chose to impersonate a veteran to personally profit off the valor of those who served in uniform. There is no place in Yavapai County for this type of conduct,” Yavapai County Attorney Dennis M. McGrane said in a press release.

Fullen told clients he was a Marine Corps veteran, even getting a tattoo of the branch’s insignia, and claimed to have been wounded in Iraq, according to prosecutors. He also used a fake Purple Heart certificate he bought online to get Arizona veteran license plates for his personal vehicles.

“I’d like to thank the jury for their service and hope this verdict and lengthy prison sentence sends a message to anyone who contemplates falsely stealing the valor of our veterans,” McGrane said.

“This crime not only defrauded Mr. Fullen’s victims, who believed their hard-earned dollars were supporting a veteran-owned business, but also defrauded the veterans in our community who run small businesses.”

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