Brandon Ashraf accused of posing as Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Pucino
PLYMOUTH, Mass. — An arrest has been made after someone set up a Facebook page claiming to be a Massachusetts soldier who was killed in Afghanistan.
Someone was using Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Pucino’s likeness on social networking sites. Pucino, of Plymouth, was 34 when he was killed in 2009 in Afghanistan.
The site was taken down after dozens of complaints were lodged.
Brandon Ashraf, 28, Cheektowaga, N.Y., was arrested following an investigation.
“I didn’t want him to get away with it. It is wrong, and nobody should have to go through this. I want this to be a lesson to other people out there who are doing this,” Pucino’s sister, Lisa Pucino-Haglof said.
She said her brother’s photos and name were also used on a dating site.
Police allege Ashraf set up various Internet accounts using Pucino’s identity. He allegedly set up a meeting with a woman in Florida whom he met on a dating site.
Ashraf was arraigned and released on his own recognizance.
Pucino-Haglof had called the ordeal “a betrayal,” and said she just wants her brother to rest in peace.
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