Washington Co., WI – Jakobie Timblin, a 34-year-old Richland Center man, was arraigned in Washington County Circuit Court last month on two felony counts regarding his alleged involvement in a stolen military valor case that was investigated by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. He was charged with providing false statements regarding military service with intent to commit a crime and theft by false representation.
The investigation revealed that Timblin allegedly began communicating with the victim in 2015 online. In 2016, the victim was contacted by someone posing as Timblin’s mother who asked the victim if she would write to Timblin overseas because he was there serving as a member of the United States Marines.
For the next several years the victim communicated with Timblin by sending letters. In 2019, they met in person for the first time and began dating. Again in 2019, the victim was contacted by someone claiming to be Timblin’s captain.
He said he was working on putting a gift together for Timblin based on the heroic work he did overseas and asked for a loan that would be reimbursed by the Department of Defense. The victim wrote a check for $5,000. Throughout the dating relationship, Timblin told multiple stories about his service and the injuries he sustained.
He claimed to have been deployed five times, once in Iraq and four times to Afghanistan. On one trip to the victim’s family cabin, he brought along his “dress blues” which had multiple medals attached including a purple heart.
Timblin told the victim’s stepmom that he had only recently learned of his mother’s death upon returning from deployment and that he needed money to help with estate planning.
He said he was upset the bill collector would harass a military man of honor like himself. Ultimately, the victim’s stepmom wrote him a check for $6,500 with the understanding he would pay it back, which never occurred.
The stepmom of the victim then checked into the obituary of Timblin’s mother and learned that she had only one son named Jacob Elliot. She learned that Elliot was on extended release for a 2014-armed robbery and verified through a Department of Corrections photo that Elliot is who they knew as Timblin. At this time, they reported it to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
A sergeant with the department who is also a Marine veteran was shown a photograph of Timblin wearing the uniform and immediately noticed discrepancies as to where the patches and medals were placed. They then worked with the Marines to verify that Timblin had never served in the armed forces.
The investigation showed Elliot changed his name to Timblin well after he had met the victim and had purchased the medals and uniform online. During the several-year period where the victim thought Timblin was overseas fighting for our country, he was incarcerated in the Wisconsin State prison system. He was released from prison in late 2018 and a short time later is when they began officially dating.
Washington County Sheriff Martin Schulteis said, “it is morally deplorable to be a military imposter and is particularly reprehensible to use society’s respect and admiration for the brave men and women that serve this great county for one’s gain. This case went even further when Timblin claimed to be a purple heart recipient which tramples on the honor of those that have been injured or worse, given up their life for one’s country.”
Timblin’s next court appearance is scheduled for a plea/sentencing hearing in front of the Honorable Judge Hetzel in Washington County Circuit Court on May 25, 2023, at 1:30 p.m.