New Jersey ? The former mayor of Atlantic City pleaded guilty Thursday to lying to enhance his veterans benefits, a crime that played a role in his bizarre three-week disappearance earlier this fall.

Making his first public appearance since leaving office Oct. 10, Robert Levy admitted to falsely claiming to have been awarded two military medals and embellishing his military record in order to receive more money in disability benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Levy admitted fabricating stories that as a soldier in Vietnam, he had been left in the jungle for weeks along with South Vietnamese troops he was working with to fend for himself. He also claimed to have made a number of parachute jumps when he did not.