It was one of those stories that makes your blood boil. A "decorated Marine," a Purple Heart recipient, a Bronze Star earner, and a cancer survivor—all wrapped into one soft-spoken woman from Rhode Island. Except, none of it was true. Sarah Cavanaugh never spent a single day in a uniform she didn't buy herself.
So, where is Sarah Cavanaugh now?
If you're looking for her in 2026, you won't find her at a VFW post or a local veteran's charity. Honestly, she's currently serving out the remainder of a significant federal prison sentence. In March 2023, a judge in Providence handed down a 70-month sentence—that’s nearly six years—following a scheme that the U.S. Attorney’s office basically described as one of the most "appalling" they’d ever seen.
The current status of Sarah Cavanaugh
Right now, Sarah Jane Cavanaugh is an inmate within the federal bureau of prisons system. Because federal prisoners are required to serve at least 85% of their sentence, she isn't expected to be released until approximately late 2027 or early 2028, depending on her behavior credits.
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She isn't just sitting in a cell, though. Part of her judgment includes a massive financial burden. The court ordered her to pay back $284,796.82 in restitution. That money is meant to go back to the people and organizations she conned, ranging from the Wounded Warrior Project to individual veterans who literally gave her the shirts off their backs.
How the "Marine" facade crumbled
It’s wild how long she kept it up. For five years, Cavanaugh worked as a civilian social worker at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Providence. This gave her the "keys to the kingdom." She used her position to swipe the medical records and personal info of actual veterans—including a real Marine who actually had cancer.
She forged a DD-214 (that's the military discharge paper) and created fake medical bills to "prove" she had stage IV lung cancer from burn pit exposure in Iraq. She was so convincing that she became the commander of VFW Post 152 in North Kingstown.
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The breakdown started in early 2022. She applied for more money from the HunterSeven Foundation, a nonprofit that helps veterans with toxic exposures. They did what any good organization should do: they checked. When they couldn't find a record of her service, the whole house of cards folded.
What the investigation revealed
- The Medals: She bought her Purple Heart and Bronze Star online.
- The Benefits: She raked in over $225,000 from the Wounded Warrior Project alone.
- The "Illness": She told people at her gym her fingers were too damaged from combat to tie her own shoes. People actually knelt down to tie them for her.
- The Real Victims: Perhaps the darkest part was her taking a spot in a veteran's art program. A real veteran who was denied a spot in that same program eventually took his own life.
Life after the verdict
When she was sentenced in 2023, her defense attorney, Kensley Barrett, tried to argue for a lighter two-year stint. He pointed out that she had "already paid a price"—her marriage ended, she lost her professional license, and she was basically a pariah. But Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. wasn't having it. He noted the "near-daily criminal conduct" she engaged in for half a decade.
Since her incarceration, her story has become a case study in the "Stolen Valor" world. In 2025, the popular Deep Cover podcast dedicated an entire season to her case, trying to figure out why a successful social worker would choose to fake a life of trauma and heroism.
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What happens when she gets out?
Release from prison won't be the end of the road for her. Once she finishes her 70 months, she has to serve three years of "supervised release"—basically federal parole. During this time, every cent she earns will likely be scrutinized to pay back that $284,000 debt.
She is also barred from working in any capacity where she has access to sensitive medical records or veteran benefits, which pretty much ends her career as a social worker forever.
If you are looking to support the actual victims of cases like this, focus on vetted organizations like the HunterSeven Foundation or the Wounded Warrior Project, which have since tightened their verification protocols to ensure "Sarah Cavanaughs" of the future can't exploit the system. You can also check the publicly available "Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator" using her name to see her current facility and projected release date as it updates in real-time.