If he’s actually charged with all that stuff, assuming only one specification for each charge, the maximum punishment would be a dismissal (the officer equivalent of a dishonorable discharge) and nine years’ confinement. In the military they add them all up to get the max; if there are more specifications, the maximum goes up. There are no sentencing guidelines, but if he’s convicted he won’t get anywhere near that much time (althoughI can’t see any scenario where he wouldn’t be dismissed). At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if the Marines forced this to a court-martial even if he were to see the light and seek administrative separation in lieu of court-martial.bob wrote: ↑Tue Sep 28, 2021 6:23 pm Military Times: Marine lieutenant colonel who demanded ‘accountability’ in brig, not charged.
No charges yet, but per a Marine spox:The general nature of the offenses being considered at the Art. 32 hearing are: Article 88 (contempt toward officials), Article 90 (willfully disobeying superior commissioned officer), Article 92 (failure to obey lawful general orders), Article 133 (conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman).
So, even though there’s a lot of time on the table, are these felonies? It depends. The UCMJ doesn’t make a felony/misdemeanor distinction. Each state has it’s own definition based on the maximum punishment for each offense. Some states say that “military only” offenses (as these clearly are because they only exist in the military), are not felonies. I read somewhere that one state (can’t remember which) doesn’t recognize any court-martial conviction as a felony, but that was a very long time ago and might no longer be valid.
For the purposes of federal felon-in-possession laws he’d likely be disqualified both as a result of the max punishment for some of the charges, and because a dismissal is a discharge under dishonorable conditions.
Whether he’d be considered a felon for other purposes would depend on the facts. I used to get a lot of questions from clients about whether they were considered felons or not. The only answer I felt competent to give was for the federal firearm laws, and if they lived in the two states where I’m licensed to practice I could talk about those states.