Update on Potential America’s Got Talent Fraud Timothy Poe

With rumors about Tim Poe, the supposed injured soldier who auditioned for AGT on Tuesday night, surfacing around the Internet, everyone is asking the same question: Is it true?

Although Poe has denied allegations, recent information is indicating that Poe is a fraud. Poe’s ex-wife, Kelly Ballard, told the NY Post that Poe was not injured:

There were no combat injuries. I think he developed a ‘feel sorry for me’ stutter.

AGTNews.com also posted some other juicy details from the interview with Ballard about Poe:

“I had him arrested in June 2002 for domestic violence. After that, he vanished to Minnesota. He didn’t help out with our son at all. . . . The whole time I have known him, I have never known him to be enrolled in any college. There is a possibility that he may have an associates degree from before I met him. One hi Facebook page he says he has a Masters Degree in project management.

She also said that he was the lead singer for Crawlspace, a band in Rochester, Minnesota for four years, which totally puts discredits his story about never singing before a speech pathologist suggested it. This photo from the Crawlspace Myspace page supposedly features Poe from his days singing for them (on the left):

So before you think that maybe he just has a disgruntled, angry ex-wife, listen to this:  The Associated Press reported the following concerning his military record:

. . . Poe served with the Minnesota Army National Guard from December 2002 through May 2011, working as a supply specialist. Records show he was deployed in Kosovo from Oct. 10, 2007 to July 15, 2008, and then served in Afghanistan for about a month in 2009.

The Associated Press article quoted Lt. Col. Kevin Olson, a spokesperson for the Minnesota National Guard, saying:

Sgt. Poe’s official military records do not indicate that he was injured by a grenade in combat while serving in Afghanistan in 2009, as he reports. . . . We looked very closely at his record. We did not find something to substantiate what he said.

That sounds pretty legit to me. Poe has talked with TMZ, denying all allegations. Curious about what he said in the interview. Well, TMZ staff said in the article:

Poe tells TMZ, the fact that there is no record of the incident is a common problem — one that Poe says is endemic when it comes to reporting soldiers’ injuries in Afghanistan . . He said he received treatment at a military medical facility in Afghanistan before being transferred to a medical center in Landstuhl, Germany . . . Tim says he plans to sue his ex-wife and several others for telling the media he was lying.

He also did not give TMZ any “hard proof” to back up his story, saying he “can’t release pics or documents for legal reasons.”

Well, if he is lying, he sure can make up a good story. In my opinion, he sounds like he has the makings of a pathological liar. A fake degree, being in a band, and worse of all, faking a war injury?

I’d love to know the truth, but who knows how much work it will take for that to happen. Tim Poe, I’d love to hear from you and see some solid proof. Until then…I’m really doubting his story. And I hope that NBC will look more into the stories of contestants next time around.