Bridge imposter

Sentence too harsh, bridge collapse impostor says FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) -- A Missouri felon sentenced to almost six years in prison after pleading guilty to impersonating an Army officer at the Interstate 40 bridge collapse in Oklahoma says the penalty was too harsh...

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) -- A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a Missouri man to nearly six years in prison for impersonating an Army officer and possessing a weapon during rescue operations at the Interstate 40 bridge collapse.

William James Clark, 37, was sentenced to three years for falsely impersonating a U.S. ...

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) -- Sentencing was delayed Friday for a former felon from Missouri who impersonated an Army captain to lead recovery efforts after last year's Interstate 40 bridge collapse. William Clark, 37, of Tallapoosa, Mo., will be sentenced Aug. 26. Friday's scheduled proceeding was delayed because federal prosecutors were busy with another trial, the U.S. attorney's office said...

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) -- A man who claimed to be an Army captain and took charge of the scene at the Interstate 40 bridge collapse pleaded guilty Friday to impersonating a military officer. William Clark's plea came a day after he requested a trial on the federal felony charge and a day after he pleaded guilty to a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm...

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) -- A Muskogee federal judge on Wednesday declared a Missouri man competent to stand trial for allegedly posing as an Army officer at the site of the deadly Interstate 40 bridge collapse last year. William James Clark pleaded innocent after U.S. District Judge James H. Payne made his ruling...

AMUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) -- A southeast Missouri man who identified himself as a U.S. Army captain and took command of rescue efforts after a deadly bridge collapse was indicted Thursday in federal court. A grand jury meeting at U.S. District Court in Muskogee returned an indictment against William Clark charging him with impersonation of a federal officer and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon...

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) -- A federal judge on Monday granted a request that a Missouri man accused of impersonating a military officer at a deadly bridge collapse undergo a psychiatric evaluation to see if he is mentally competent to stand trial. The attorney for William James Clark, 36, and federal prosecutors both want to determine Clark's mental state the day he allegedly pretended to be a military officer when the Interstate 40 bridge collapsed into the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls...

OWEN SOUND, Ontario (AP) -- A Missourian accused of posing as a military captain and taking control of rescue efforts after last month's deadly interstate bridge collapse in Oklahoma will remain jailed in Canada at least another week. William Clark, arrested Sunday in Ontario as a U.S. fugitive with a rifle, made a brief court appearance Monday in this southwestern Ontario town. He was not asked to enter a plea, and his case was deferred until next Monday...

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- The man who called himself Capt. William Clark wore a green beret, camouflage fatigues and shiny boots. And he didn't hesitate to give orders after a deadly interstate bridge collapse. But even as emergency workers followed his orders, they began to suspect something was not quite right about Clark, who claimed to be with U.S. Army Special Forces...

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) -- A man who showed up at last month's deadly bridge collapse in eastern Oklahoma claiming to be an Army officer may be a Missouri ex-convict with a history of impersonation, according to a newspaper report. The FBI is investigating the man who arrived in Webbers Falls two hours after a barge struck the Interstate 40 bridge and caused it to tumble into the Arkansas River, killing 14 people. ...