For 24 years, authorities say that Mark Stephen Mulcahy posed as retired Marine master gunner sergeant David "Gunny" Anderson.

Using that identity, they say, Mulcahy got himself elected commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars District 14 in Glenwood Springs and obtained medical care - including at least one operation - from Veteran’s Administration facilities from around the state.

Now, Mulcahy, 47, faces a host of criminal charges in Glenwood Springs and Denver.

The Denver district attorney’s office has filed charges of felony theft, criminal impersonation and forgery against Mulcahy.

In Glenwood Springs, authorities have filed charges of forgery, identity theft, and criminal impersonation.

According to federal and state investigators, David Anderson was a real veteran who lived in Modesto, Calif. He served in the U.S. Army in 1973 and 1974 and was not a Marine.

Anderson was killed in a bicycle accident in August 2006. In the years prior to his death, according to Anderson’s brother, David Anderson lived as an indigent in the Modesto area.

According to investigators, Mulcahy was never in the military.

But using a DD-214 - issued when a service member retires, separates or is discharged - Mulcahy masqueraded as a retired Marine "gunny."

Investigators quote Robert Clements, the former state commander of the the Colorado VFW, as saying he first met Mulcahy in July or August 2004.

At that time, Mulcahy introduced himself as Anderson and presented a DD-214 and showing that he had just retired after more than 20 years in the Marine Corps.

Clements said Mulcahy expressed interest in joining the VFW post in Glenwood and eventually became president of post. After he became post commander, there were numerous complaints about Mulcahy, including that he was not holding meetings, said Clements.

During the time he was post commander, he was given records of the post including banking records.

Eventually, Clements couldn’t find Mulcahy and was told he had moved out of the Glenwood Springs area.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Denver, Mulcahy told investigator Evan Kwiatkowski that he met the real Anderson sometime in the early 1980s in San Jose. Mulcahy said that Anderson had a hard time with authority figures, could not adjust and was thrown out of the military.

By 1986 or 1987, said Mulcahy, he had assumed Anderson’s identity with Anderson’s permission.

Masquerading as David Keith Anderson, Mulcahy was able to receive an upper gastric hernia operation at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center in Denver. According to Denver investigators, Mulcahy - using his fake identity - obtained $6,296 worth of care from the VA’s center in Denver, including the surgery.

The person who authorities said blew the whistle on Mulcahy was his former wife, Lisa Bostain. Bostain claimed that Mulcahy deceived her just like he deceived everyone else.

She told investigators that when she married Mulcahy, she thought she was marrying David "Gunny" Anderson, a retired Marine. But she eventually found out that her husband was a fraud and called authorities.

Bostain said that Mulcahy used his false identity to obtain the hernia operation and "was scamming just to be able to get various drugs for his friends."

In his interview with Denver investigator Kwiatkowski, Mulcahy said he didn’t want to keep Anderson’s identity, but "felt trapped.

"Mulcahy said he was really sorry about the VA hospital," Kwiatkowski said. "Mulcahy mentioned he wanted to contact the administration at the VA hospital and fined out what kind of underlying bill there was because he did not feel right about it."

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