Category: crime & punishment

I always wondered how the juicy girls received their drugs and now I know how:

The wives of two U.S. soldiers told a panel of South Korean judges on Friday that they didn’t try to smuggle methamphetamine into the country by mail, though one of the women admitted to using the drug in South Korea.

According to court documents, Irine Melendy signed for a package that arrived from the Philippines at a friend’s house in Uijeongbu in March.

The court documents said the package contained fish, clothes and 15.1 grams of methamphetamine hidden in the bottom of some slippers.

Melendy, a 25-year-old who has been married to a U.S. soldier for nearly six years, said she didn’t know what was in the package and signed for it at a friend’s request.

“It was a big mistake,” she told Stars and Stripes.

That friend, Warren Alega, is in jail and on trial for drug smuggling charges along with Castro Aldwin, both of whom will testify when the women’s case reconvenes next week. The men live and work in South Korea and have no apparent connection to the U.S. military.

What is really jacked up about this is that one of the wives on trial is eight months pregnant and the Korean investigators took hair samples and found evidence that they both may have taken drugs.  It is bad enough to be possibly caught up in drug smuggling much less taking drugs while pregnant.  It will interesting to see how this turns out. 

More details are now emerging about what happened during last month’s policewoman rape case in Seoul involving to US soldiers:

One of two U.S. soldiers on trial for allegedly trying to rape an off-duty South Korean policewoman in April told a panel of judges Friday he was trying to catch a taxi when the incident occurred.

Pfc. Mark Feldmann, 21, testified that he told his friend, Sgt. Anthony Q. Basel, that he planned to smoke a cigarette outside the bar they were in and then catch a taxi home. The pair, based at Camp Stanley, were in Seoul on leave had spent the day drinking in at least two restaurants and two bars.

Feldmann said he tried to catch three taxis on a main street but none would stop, so he went through an alley to a side street. He said he was trying to catch a taxi there when Basel, who had just left a public bathroom, found him and told him they needed to leave.

South Korean police arrested both a short time later, saying they had tried to rape the police officer. Basel told the court that he did try to rape the woman, but remembered only being on top of her with his pants around his ankles because he had drunk at least 20 beers that day.

I’m surprised he could walk after drinking at least 20 beers.  What else I find interesting is that an NCO is hanging out and drinking with a private and the NCO is the one who appears to be drunk and out of control.  NCOs are not supposed to be hanging out with soldiers and especially drinking with them.  Usually the E5 sergeant rank is the worst violators of this and this case is a perfect example. 

The PFC will most likely be convicted of something because no US soldier ever gets acquitted in a Korean court, but if he does get acquitted I guess the command can bring him up on charges for abandoning his battle buddy.  If only he had the new battle buddy card maybe all of this could have been avoided.

USFK has posted the blotter report for the month of May.  It was a busy month for the USFK legal system.  You can read the whole report below the fold:

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The translation issues for US servicemembers facing trial in Korean courts continue:

A U.S. soldier has admitted that he attempted to rape an off-duty South Korean policewoman last month, according to his defense team.

Sgt. Anthony Q. Basel initially denied attacking the woman in an off-post bathroom, but later confessed to the April 5 incident, defense officials said outside the courtroom Friday following their first court appearance in the case.

Basel, answering a prosecutor’s questions through a translator, admitted to being in the bathroom the night of the attack.

Fellow soldier Pfc. Marc C. Feldman, also charged with attempted rape, told the prosecutor he wasn’t in the bathroom.

Before questions could continue, Basel’s defense attorney, Jin Hyo-guen, complained about the quality of the translation and requested a temporary halt to the trial. The prosecutor also asked for more time to investigate what he called inconsistent statements from the defendants.

This is a continuing problem in Korean Courts, that one would thnk would be easy to fix.  As we have seen in the past fair trials for US soldiers are not what the Korean court system is about.  I’m not saying these two are innocent but they do deserve at least adequate translations of the court proceedings.  I do have to say that this excuse is being used an awful lot now a days I have noticed:

The 23-year-old, who lost five friends in Iraq and escaped a bomb that exploded in front of his vehicle, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after returning from Iraq, Hayes said. Basel dropped out of a treatment program because he feared it would harm his chances of being promoted, Hayes said.

First of all a lot of people have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and do not go around committing crimes.  PTSD is real issue but it is being used as a blanket excuse way to often.  The US military has plenty of mental health services for those with PTSD.  As far as alcohol treatment he must have been a voluntary referal into ASAP (Army Substance Abuse Program) and than completed the Track 1 phase of it.  His commander could have command referred him for further treatment.  The excuse that he quit treatment out of fear of not being promoted is inaccurrate.  The ASAP counselors give commanders updates on a soldiers progress in the program and recommend further treatment for the soldier or not.  His commander and First Sergeant could have command referred him for further treatment if they felt it was necessary based on the advice of the ASAP folks as well as their own personal opinion of the soldier.  I know the ASAP program in 2ID real well and they are very vigorous about ensuring soldiers make all the meetings and if they don’t they call the commanders.  Upon completion of Track 1 the counselor will do outbriefs on the soldiers progress with the commander and First Sergeant.

Obviously his commander felt he didn’t need further treatment and did not keep him in the program.  Promotions has nothing to do with it and sounds more like grasping for straws. 

20 years old + private rank + out past curfew + only a week left in country = trouble:

A 2nd Infantry Division soldier was questioned by police who suspect he was involved in an early-morning fire Saturday at an off-post beauty shop near Camp Hovey in Dongducheon.

Pvt. Dustin T. Roper, 20, of 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry’s headquarters company, was found in an alley after firefighters responded to a fire at the Royal beauty shop at 3:55 a.m. Saturday.

Roper remained silent during questioning, a Yangju police spokesman said.

The statistical category that causes the most trouble in USFK are 18-22 year olds, within the rank of E1-E4, and either under 30 days in country or under 30 days left to leave.  The guys under 30 days get in trouble because they come to Korea and think they can drink up storm and raise hell in the ville.  The longer they are in Korea and see people getting brought up on charges for misconduct tends to moderate their behavior.  Additionally the ville just gets old and soldiers start doing other things besides going to the ville.   

Then you have the guys that under 30 days that often lose leader supervision because they are released during the day to clear their unit and installation.  These are the guys you really have to watch.  Often these guys want to go out and raise hell one last time before they leave.  Additionally if this soldier spent a year in Korea and is only a private that leads me to believe he probably got busted in rank while in Korea. 

This guy does appear to be a classic example of a high risk soldier that are the main causes off post incidents if he in fact started the fire. 

Seriously is anyone surprised by this?:

A police investigation has revealed that many winners of the Grand Art Exhibition of Korea, the country’s largest art contest, were chosen through bribery and corruption.

The shocking investigation involves 36 officials with the Korea Fine Arts Association (KFA), the country’s leading arts organization, 20 art professor judges, and other influential organizations and individuals.

Police on Wednesday asked for arrest warrants for nine people including Mr. Ha, the former director general of the KFA. Ha is accused of awarding prizes at the 25th Grand Art in 2006 in return for bribes from applicants and acquaintances. Forty-nine others including judges, KFA officials, and artists were booked without detention.

From the Stars & Stripes:

A 2nd Infantry Division soldier was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison for downloading child pornography and soliciting sex via chat room exchanges with a police officer posing as a 14-year-old.

Spc. Wesley S. Edmond of the 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry’s headquarters company, also received a bad-conduct discharge and a rank reduction to E-1.

Sometime between September and October 2006, Edmond downloaded and saved pictures of underage teens having sex, according to testimony.

He also entered the “Virtual Shagging” room at a popular online chat site and conversed with what he thought was a girl who eventually introduced herself as a 14-year-old. The “girl” was actually a female police lieutenant acting in a sting operation to catch sexual predators.

Another soldier going to jail for something stupid. This guy is 31 years old and should know better and even has a young daughter himself.  What are people like this thinking?

This story should sound familiar:

Military Judge Col. Gregory Gross sentenced Kevin Sowers to 18 months in prison, forfeiture of all pay and a rank reduction to E-1, with credit for 141 days served in pretrial confinement.

A rape charge against Sowers, who is attached to the 2nd Infantry Division’s 1st Battalion, 15th Field Artillery, Bravo Battery, was dropped prior to Wednesday’s trial after the alleged victim declined to testify.

Sowers says he stole from two soldiers’ bank accounts and defied his commander’s orders after falling for a bargirl working in “The Ville” outside Casey’s main gate in Dongducheon. The woman became Sowers’ fiancee.

It should sound familiar because this scenario has been playing out for years and making some headlines recently. I call these guys juicy addicts because these girls in the club are like drugs to some people. These soldiers act just like drug addicts the way they are caught stealing other people’s property and commiting crimes to finance their juicy habit. Read the whole thing and see how as always immediate families that really suffer from these things.

The Camp Casey First Sergeant that was charged with rape has been convicted of a lesser charge and sentenced:

Sgt. 1st Class Carlos Reynolds remained steadfast in his innocence, even as a court-martial jury Friday sentenced him to 2½ years in prison for indecently assaulting two female soldiers.

Reynolds, formerly acting first sergeant for the 2nd Infantry Division’s 302nd Brigade Support Battalion, Foxtrot Company, also received a bad-conduct discharge and rank reduction to E-1.

The NCO in question had some heated words for the court:

Reynolds said he “acknowledged and respected the findings” of the eight jurors, then apologized for their having to be in court.

But he did not apologize for the assaults and two other counts for which he was convicted: filing a false official statement and obstructing justice. Reynolds faced up to 20 years prison for the four offenses.

Prosecutor Capt. Marlin Paschal asked Reynolds at the sentencing hearing if he had thought of the crime’s effect on the family of one of the victims.

“Why should I do that, sir?” Reynolds responded, adding that the victim hadn’t considered him or his family.

Reynolds, 40, has a wife and three children, age 20, 15 and 11, living in Tennessee.

As you can see when it comes to these cases there are victims all around that are effected. If the NCO didn’t do what he was convicted of he still put himself in a compromising position to be accused of sexual assault by not having any witnesses with him. If you are a senior NCO or officer especially a First Sergeant of Commander only go into soldiers’ rooms with a witness to avoid opening yourself up to accusations that may be untrue.

The court martial results for the month of April are posted on the USFK website. Looking at the results you can see where most of the current trend of off post incidents are coming from:

Court-Martial Result for April 2007
At a general court-martial on 28 April 2007, Private First Class Michael E. Glassman, HHS, 1/38th FA, 210th Fires Bde, 2ID, was convicted of disobeying an order from a commissioned officer, eight specifications of wrongfully pawning military property, seven specifications of larceny of military property, and two specifications of housebreaking. His adjudged sentence was reduction to E-1, confinement for four years, and a bad conduct discharge.

Results of ROK Criminal Prosecutions
In Seoul Central District Court on 4 April 2007, Master Sergeant Adrian S. Miles , 524th MI Bn, was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol. His adjudged sentence was a 1.5 million Won fine.

In Daegu District Court on 5 April 2007, Sergeant First Class Jeffrey P. Nagy, CSCT #2, was found not guilty of involvement in a hit and run accident.

In Suwon District Court on 18 April 2007, Captain Derrick G. Draper, 3/2d Avn Bn, was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol and vehicular hit and run. His adjudged sentence was 5 million Won fine.

In Seoul Central District Court on 27 April 2007, Sergeant Leon A. Eldridge, 3/2d Avn Bn, was convicted of aggravated assault. His adjudged sentence was a 3 million Won fine.

In Seoul Central District Court on 27 April 2007, Private Marcus D. Elliot, 2/2d Avn Bn, was convicted of aggravated assault. His adjudged sentence was a 3 million Won fine.

In Seoul Central District Court on 27 April 2007, Private First Class Melvin G. Abramson, 2/2d Avn Bn, was convicted of aggravated assault. His adjudged sentence was a 3 million Won fine.

The court martial incident is referring to the Stealing for Juicy Girl case that happened at Camp Casey. Now notice all the cases tried in the ROK courts are all from non-Area 1 units in Yongsan, Taegu, Camp Humphreys, and K-16. On top of these incidents non-Area 1 personnel were also responsible for the Kunsan Taxi Cab Beat Down, along with the Taxi Cab Knifing in Waegwan. Â

Area 1’s only off post incident was the Policewoman Sexual Assault which made a lot of headlines at the time. However, I think my point is made that off post incidents in USFK is something that is well dispersed and not just an Area 1 problem; it is just when an Area 1 incident happens it is always the most memorable. Â