Riverside, CA: A California man is facing a criminal charge for wearing numerous Navy medals despite the fact he never served in the military, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

Steven Burton, 39, of Palm Springs, California, has agreed to surrender to authorities Thursday morning, Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California, said in a statement. He will make his initial court appearance in federal court in Riverside, California, at 9:30 a.m.

Burton has never served with any branch of the U.S. military, authorities said, but was seen and photographed several times wearing military uniforms and various medals, including a Purple Heart and the Navy Cross, the highest medal awarded by the U.S. Navy.

Authorities began investigating Burton in June after a Navy commander contacted the FBI and said she had attended her high school reunion earlier in the year and saw Burton wearing a Marine Corps uniform displaying the rank of lieutenant colonel, along with the Navy Cross, the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star, according to an affidavit filed seeking a search warrant in the case. Suspicious, the woman approached Burton and asked to take a photograph with him.

After the reunion, the woman confirmed with the Navy that Burton had not been awarded the Navy Cross and was not a Marine or a member of any other branch of the armed services, the court documents said. She provided the photograph to the FBI.

The affidavit, from an FBI agent, said Internet research showed that Burton had blogged during August 2009 about being a Marine and receiving many commendations and awards. His postings also discussed engaging in combat and serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, particularly in Falluja, a city in Iraq's largely Sunni Arab Anbar province where Marines and militants battled for years, the documents say.

Burton posted a picture of himself online standing on a beach at Coronado Island, California, wearing a Marines dress uniform, the affidavit said. In the picture, he is wearing the rank of gunnery sergeant and is displaying medals including the Navy Cross, the Legion of Merit, the Navy and Marine Corps medal, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart, among others.

Authorities found that Burton works for a bank. Palm Springs police contacted him at his home "under the guise of conducting an identity theft investigation in which Burton was a potential victim," the affidavit said.

Burton is charged with the unauthorized wearing of military medals. The misdemeanor offense carries a maximum penalty of a year in federal prison.

A search warrant was executed at Burton's home, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Akrotirianakis, who did not divulge what was found there.

Akrotirianakis also would not say where authorities believe Burton obtained the medals.

However, an Internet search showed several medals -- or possibly replicas -- for sale online, despite a law banning their advertisement or sale. Even if a medal is a replica, wearing it still violates federal law, Akrotirianakis told CNN.

The Navy Cross is the nation's second-highest award given for valor, second only to the Medal of Honor, authorities said. It is generally awarded for "extreme gallantry and risk of life, beyond the call of duty, performed in combat with an enemy force," according to the prosecutors' statement. The Bronze Star is awarded for "heroic and meritorious achievement or service," while the Purple Heart is awarded "for being wounded or killed in action against an enemy of the United States." Article

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