Reputed counter-terrorism expert pleads guilty

By Joe Gould - Staff writer - Army Times
Posted : Saturday Apr 9, 2011 6:29:08 EDT
  
Lecturer William G. Hillar entranced audiences as a globe-trotting, highly trained, retired Green Beret colonel whose attempt to rescue his daughter from kidnappers inspired the hit movie, “Taken.”
But it was not really his life, it was all lies.
Hillar, 66, of Millersville, Md., pleaded guilty March 29 to a single count of wire fraud in a federal court in Baltimore. As part of his plea, Hillar agreed to pay back $171,000 he made by lecturing universities, soldiers, and federal and local law enforcement agencies while falsely claiming he was a counter-terrorism expert and had earned doctorate from the University of Oregon.
He also agreed to perform 500 hours of community service at the Maryland State Veterans Cemeteries.
“William G. Hillar lived a lie and based his teaching career on military experience he did not have and credentials that he did not earn,” U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement. “He was never a colonel, never served in the U.S. Army or the Special Forces, never was deployed to exotic locales and never received training in counter-terrorism and psychological warfare while in the armed forces.”
Spoke before FBI
In the plea agreement, Hillar admitted that over 12 years, he accepted thousands of dollars in speaking fees from the likes of the FBI Command College and the Drug Enforcement Administration. He even took Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., for $3,635 after a 2007 speaking engagement.
Since the spring of 2005, Hillar taught at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, in California, including a workshop titled, “Tactical Counter Terrorism.” He was paid $32,000.
Several websites advertising Hillar’s past workshops link him to the 2008 movie “Taken,” a fictional film about a father who rescues his daughter from human traffickers.
According to his plea agreement, his now-defunct website, “Bill Hillar Training,” included the following bio:
“William G. Hillar is a retired Colonel of the U.S. Army Special Forces. He has served in Asia, the Middle East, and Central and South America, where his diverse training and experiences included tactical counter-terrorism, explosive ordnance, emergency medicine and psychological warfare.”
It also stated that Hillar “holds a B.A. in Psychology, and M.A. in Education, a Ph.D. in Health Education, and an honorary Doctorate in Intercultural Relations.”
In reality, Hillar attended the University of Oregon from 1970 to 1973, but was not awarded a doctorate degree.
Hillar told the school, where he taught more than a dozen courses on human trafficking, drug trafficking and counter-terrorism, that he served in the Army from 1962 to 1990.
Served in Coast Guard
But Hillar’s military and civilian records indicate he was never in the Army, court papers state. Rather, he served in the Coast Guard Reserve from 1962 to 1970, achieving the rate of “Radarman, Petty Officer Third Class.”
He was never deployed to the locations stated on his website, nor was he given any of the specialized training he claimed.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely said in a statement that Hillar’s deception was revealed by members of the Special Forces community. In late October, questions were raised about Hillar’s credentials in a forum thread at professionalsoldiers.org, a website dedicated to the Special Forces community.
In November, Hillar received the 2010 Hometown Hero award from Elon University in North Carolina for his work to combat sex trafficking.
According to the university’s student newspaper, The Pendulum, questions about Hillar’s credentials surfaced as he was about to receive the award.
A mention in Elon’s newsletter says Hillar claimed his daughter was abducted in 1988 while traveling with schoolmates and forced into the sex industry.
“Despite an exhaustive, multi-country search, Hillar says he was unable to save his daughter from the fate that ultimately took her life,” the newsletter reads. “Rather than allow the loss of his daughter to devastate him for the rest of his life, Hillar says he has dedicated his life to educating people on the largely overlooked problem of human trafficking.”
Robert Craig, special agent in charge for the DCIS Mid-Atlantic Field Office, said in a statement that Hillar cheapened the sacrifice of Special Forces soldiers.
“To misuse their titles for personal gain is unconscionable and discredits those that served and continue to serve the United States of America,” he said.