A federal grand jury has indicted a former AMVETS commander on 15 counts of wire fraud stemming from allegations he embezzled $622,000 from the Dayton, Ohio branch of the veteran nonprofit organization.
Danny Dale Gordon, 48, of Kettering, Ohio, faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine if convicted of the charges.
Gordon served as commander of AMVETS Post #24 from January 2022 to May 2024. According to the indictment, while serving as commander, Gordon “fraudulently transferred money from the veterans organization’s fundraising and scholarship bank accounts into its primary account before withdrawing the funds for his own use.”
The Dayton AMVETS branch was established in 1944.
Prosecutors allege in the indictment that Gordon used the money at local gambling casinos and for hotel and travel expenses. He also spent some of the fraudulently obtained funds when “frequenting a Dayton-area ‘gentlemen’s club,’” according to the indictment.
The Kettering man conducted fraudulent transactions ranging between $200 and $900.
Court documents detail 15 separate transactions, some ATM cash withdrawals and other point of sale transactions at various AMVETS locations, American Legion Posts and a Moose Lodge facility in Miamisburg, Ohio.
Other transactions were made at locations such as Hollywood Gaming, Miami Valley Gaming and LUST Gentlemen’s Club.
The judge signed an arrest warrant for Gordon on Thursday, according to court documents. Prosecutors have requested that he be detained pending trial.
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.