The thick-muscled man with close-cropped hair who called himself Rick Duncan seemed right out of central casting as a prop for a Democratic candidate running against Bush administration policies last fall.

A former Marine Corps captain who suffered brain trauma from a roadside bomb in Iraq and was at the Pentagon during the Sept. 11 attacks. An advocate for veterans rights who opposed the war. An Annapolis graduate who was proudly gay.

Yet, except for his first name, virtually none of his story was true. In reality, he was Richard G. Strandlof, a charismatic drifter with a history of mental illness and petty crimes

Last month, after actual veterans uncovered his deceptions, Mr. Strandlof, 32, was detained

The veterans group he helped create, the Colorado Veterans Alliance, has disbanded

Though Mr. Strandlof did not have a formal role on any campaign, he became a favorite of Democratic candidates