Repeat offender charged again for stolen valor in Polk Co.

LAKELAND (FOX 13) - A man who just got out of jail for telling women lies about his military service and then trying to squeeze money out of them is back behind bars.

On Thursday, 25-year-old Kyle Barwan was back in court again. He is accused of scamming a new victim. Detectives say Barwan used the same ruse on her that he used on two others less than a year ago.

"He is a nut," commented Polk Sheriff Grady Judd.

The sheriff says Barwan would meet a woman online and then tell her he was a Green Beret and had worked with the CIA. He also told them has been deployed to Afghanistan and Germany.

Investigators say none of that is true.

"If you have to use and sacrifice to embellish your own stature in life, you're pretty sick," said Ret. Col. Gary Clark of the Polk Veteran's Council.

After gaining a woman's confidence, Barwan would allegedly ask her to pay for his rent, meals, computer programs and more.

Barwan has already been sentenced to five years in prison for similar problems in Kentucky and Illinois. He was in jail for two months when he was convicted in Polk County last year.

A judge in Polk County just denied him bond for the new charges, which include fraud, tampering with a witness, and soliciting funds/misrepresenting military service. He will have to go to court on them sometime in the future.