Phony fireman gets 120 days

A Huntington Beach man accused of pretending to be a firefighter at major disasters around the country has pleaded guilty to all charges and will serve a 120-day sentence at home. But his lawyer still called him an “American hero.”

James Charles Campbell, 45, pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of possessing a firearm as a felon and one count of fraudulently impersonating fire personnel. Despite the objections of prosecutors, he was allowed by a judge to serve his sentence by going under house arrest except for work hours.

Campbell entered numerous disaster sites including California wildfires, Hurricane Katrina and 9/11, wearing firefighter outfits with Los Angeles Fire Department patches and a badge that got him into restricted areas, according to prosecutors. Campbell was barred from joining a fire department because of a felony credit card-related fraud conviction in Arizona in the 1980s; that conviction also makes his possession of firearms illegal.

Campbell’s lawyer, Scott Well, didn’t dispute the possession of guns or the fact it was illegal, though he said one had no firing pin and the gun was for hunting. But he said Campbell was a real firefighter — a volunteer firefighter with real emergency training who has saved lives. Well said that any impersonation was probably accidental or harmless exaggeration.

“It’s frustrating the district attorney’s office has decided to publicize this guy as a really bad person,” he said. “If right now you and I were in the same room and a fire broke out, you and I would both hope to God he was around. He would lay his life on the line to rescue you, me or anyone you know.”

In 1995, Campbell became a licensed emergency medical technician in California, but within two years the state found out about his earlier record, and his credentials were revoked.

Campbell’s business, Frontline Safety Products, sells disaster preparedness equipment and offers CPR training; Campbell promoted both by claiming to be a paramedic, prosecutors said. The company’s revenues have tanked since the case began, Well said.

MICHAEL ALEXANDER may be reached at (714) 966-4618 or at michael.alexander@latimes.com.