The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 07:28 PM

New York Man Outed For Fraud Posing As A Green Beret

For real Green Berets, there was one dead giveaway that Brooklyn Army vet Papotia Reginald Wright was an imposter.

His beret was black.

“We took one look at that and knew he was messed up — it was comical,” said a retired Green Beret, a member of the Guardians of the Green Beret, to The Post on Friday.

“If you’re to pretend to be a Green Beret, at least do it the right way’’ — by wearing a green beret, the veteran said.

Wright was outed this week as a fraud, posing as a Green Beret as he ran an unauthorized veterans “Honor Guard” out of Brooklyn’s Park Slope Armory, according to the Guardians of the Green Beret.

Wright’s wife, Tammy Feliciano, also lied about being an ex-Army “major’’ while serving as an “executive officer’’ with him, the Guardians noted.

“His wife never served a day in the military — period,” a Guardian member said.

The organization of former and current Special Forces heros uncovered Wright’s alleged scheme, thanks in part to his laughable lack of “millinery” intelligence.

Reached by phone Friday, Wright claimed he never pretended to be a Green Beret and only wore the elite unit’s insignia because “that was the uniform of the day.” He declined to clarify what he meant

Wright would step out at functions — including a field ceremony at a football Giants game last month — with a Christmas tree’s worth of decorations pinned to his chest.

But while he made sure to affix a red and white Special Forces Crest to the front of his beret, in reality, Wright was a lowly Army driver who served mostly stateside and never rose above the rank of specialist, the Guardians found