Tag: crime

Koreans in a bar would of course never resort to this kind of violence:

In December, about 20 Cambodian workers engaged in a bloody group fight inside a bar in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province.

The incident is belatedly becoming the talk of town after surveillance camera footage showing their brutal fight was aired on TV Wednesday.

Some of the Cambodian men, who all work in factories in Gimhae or Busan on temporary visas, sustained deep stab wounds and bone fractures that will require months of hospital treatment, police said.

During the fight, they smashed bottles of beer and soju, and threw dozens of chairs at each other, breaking dishes and glasses. The owner of the bar said he was lucky that they only cost him his tables and dishes, not his life.

“There were a lot of blood stains. I could have been hit by any of the bottles they threw,” he said.

Residents in Gimhae were frightened by the videos of the incident.

“I thought of foreign factory workers as being docile, hardworking and somewhat naïve. But this likely breaks that stereotype. They could be violent and dangerous, too. I’m afraid of them,” a resident said.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Below is the latest USFK Court Martial and ROK Criminal Prosecution Results for December 2014:

Results of Court Martials for December 2014

On 4 December 2014, at a General Court-Martial, Specialist Yvonne S. Mayberry, 501st Special Troops Battalion, 501st Sustainment Brigade, was found guilty of two Specifications of failure to obey a lawful general order (Article 92, UCMJ); one Specification of false official statement (Article 107); two Specifications of larceny of non-military property (Article 121); and two Specifications of stealing mail in (Article 134).  She was sentenced to be reduced to E-1, confined for 20 months, and to be discharged with a Bad-Conduct Discharge.

On 8 December 2014, at a General Court-Martial, SFC William J. Delgado, 65^th Medical Brigade, was convicted of one specification of violating a lawful general order (Article 92, UCMJ) and one specification of sexual assault (Article 120).  He was sentenced to be reduced to E-1, to be confined for 36 months, and to be discharged with a Bad-Conduct Discharge.

On 10 December 2014, at a General Court-Martial, PV2 Deandre Coleman, 2d Infantry Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2d Infantry Division, was found guilty of two specifications of failure to go to his appointed placed of duty, (Article 86, UCMJ), one specification of disrespect to a commissioned officer (Article 89), one specification of failure to obey a lawful general order (Article 92), and three specifications of larceny (Article 121).  He was sentenced to be reduced to the grade of E-1, to be confined for eight months, and to be discharged with a Bad Conduct Discharge.

On 18 December 2014, at a General Court Martial, SPC Aaron Nies, 36^th Signal Battalion, 1st Signal Brigade, was found guilty of two Specifications of sexual assault (UCMJ, Article 120), three Specifications of abusive sexual contact (Article 120), attempted sexual assault (Article 80), indecent exposure (Article 120c), and failing to obey the curfew policy (Article 92).  He was sentenced to be reduced to E-1, to be confined for 26 months, and to be discharged with a Bad Conduct Discharge.

On 19 December 2014, at a Special Court-Martial, Private First Class Timetra K. Hooks, 194th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 501st Sustainment Brigade, was found guilty of two Specifications of larceny of non-government property (Article 121, UCMJ); five Specifications of forgery (Article 123); and one specification of obstructing justice (Article 134).  She was sentenced to be reduced to E-1; to be confined for six months; and to be discharged with a Bad-Conduct Discharge.

Results of ROK Criminal Prosecutions for December 2014

In Seoul Central District Court on 4 December 2014, CPT Sophie S. Hilaire, HHB, 8th Army, duty w/USFK, was convicted of traffic law violations.  Her adjudged sentence was a 2,000,000 Won fine.

In Suwon District Court on 10 December 2014, PVT Dmitri N. Davis, HHC, 3-2 GSAB, USAG Humphreys, was found not guilty of the charges of Indecent Act by Compulsion.

In Daegu District Court on 18 December 2014, PVT Travis D. Mitchell, 551st ICTC, USAG Daegu (Carroll), was convicted of Indecent Act by Compulsion.  His adjudged sentence was a 10,000,000 Won fine.

In Seoul Central District Court on 31 December 2014, Capt Jonathan P. Walsh, HQ, 7th Air Force (A7X), Osan Air Base, was convicted of Infliction of Bodily Injury, Destruction and Damage of Property and Violation of the Minor Offense Act.  His adjudged sentence was a 1,000,000 Won fine.

This appeal court case depending on how it goes may end up helping this Special Forces Colonel who is being charged for getting a female partner infected with HIV:

A Kansas airman accused of aggravated assault for exposing multiple sex partners to HIV at swinger parties in Wichita will have his appeal heard this week before the nation’s highest military court.

The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces will on Tuesday take up the case against David Gutierrez, an appeal the defense contends could upend similar prosecutions in the U.S. military.

“This case will have the potential of decriminalizing sexual contact with someone with HIV,” defense attorney Kevin McDermott said.

Air Force prosecutors have declined comment.

Gutierrez was a sergeant at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita in 2011 when he was stripped of his rank and sentenced to eight years behind bars.

In addition to aggravated assault, Gutierrez also was found guilty of violating an order to notify partners about his HIV status and to use condoms. He was also convicted of indecent acts and adultery. He has not been accused of actually infecting anyone with HIV.

In his appeal, Gutierrez has challenged whether the risk to his sexual partners was high enough to constitute aggravated assault, arguing that laws covering exposure to the disease are outdated since the statistical probability of heterosexual transmission is low and medical advances have made the disease treatable.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but I do not see how giving someone HIV should not be considered a crime of some kind regardless of how treatable it is now a days.  It is something that at least permanently negatively alters the life of anyone who catches it and can lead to deadly consequences.  Also of interest with this story is that Gutierrez is also claiming he is not guilty of adultery since his wife participated in the swinger parties.  It will be interesting to see how this case turns out and its ramifications on the UCMJ.

More of the same:

SEOUL, South Korea — The 2nd Infantry Division is asking bar owners for help in reducing troop misbehavior after several incidents sparked negative publicity and calls from local officials for the U.S. military to rein in soldier conduct.

Maj. Gen. Thomas Vandal, 2ID commander, said Army officials met with about 20 owners of bars in the “Ville” outside Camps Casey and Hovey several weeks ago. Citing excessive alcohol usage as the main contributor to misconduct, the division wants bartenders to call military police when they believe a soldier’s drinking is getting out of hand.

“We asked them to help us with this campaign for responsible drinking that really gets at causing our soldiers to stop, pause and reflect before they have that extra drink, before we see it affects their judgment,” Vandal told Stars and Stripes. “They understand the intent. They were very positive, quite frankly,” he said, adding that soldiers getting in trouble is bad for a bar’s business and can lead to being put off-limits to troops. (Stars and Stripes)

You can read more at the link, but does anyone think this will make a difference.

This story is a perfect example of the dangers excessive gambling can cause.  If a foreign intelligence agent knew of his gambling problem they may have attempted to try and offer him money for secrets to feed his gambling problem.  It is just amazing that a three-star admiral would allow himself to have such a gambling addiction that would lead to criminal conduct and make himself such a security threat:

The admiral fired last year as No. 2 commander of U.S. nuclear forces may have made his own counterfeit $500 poker chips with paint and stickers to feed a gambling habit  that eventually saw him banned from an entire network of casinos, according to a criminal investigative report.

Although Rear Adm. Timothy M. Giardina’s removal as deputy head of U.S. Strategic Command was announced last year, evidence of his possible role in manufacturing the counterfeit chips has not previously been revealed. Investigators said they found his DNA on the underside of an adhesive sticker used to alter genuine $1 poker chips to make them look like $500 chips.

Nor had the Navy disclosed how extensively he gambled.

The case is among numerous embarrassing setbacks for the nuclear force. Disciplinary problems, security flaws, weak morale and leadership lapses documented by The Associated Press over the past two years prompted Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Nov. 14 to announce top-to-bottom changes in how the nuclear force is managed that will cost up to $10 billion.

The records obtained by the AP under the Freedom of Information Act show Giardina was a habitual poker player, spending a total of 1,096 hours — or an average of 15 hours per week — at the tables at the Horseshoe casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in the 18 months before being caught using three phony chips in June 2013. [Associated Press]

You can read more at the link.

I get it that this guy is a criminal, but how stupid are these soldiers for giving him the money for safekeeping in the first place?

WACO, Texas — A Texas man who faked being a Fort Hood soldier has been sentenced to two years in federal prison in a bank scam targeting new Army enlistees.
Daniel Lee Rosales of Killeen was sentenced Wednesday in Waco. The 21-year-old Rosales in September pleaded guilty to making a false statement on a loan or credit application.

Investigators say Rosales in 2013 posed as a sergeant to befriend new enlistees and encourage them to apply for signature loans at banks to build up their credit. Rosales instructed the enlistees to provide false residential and marital information to obtain bigger loans.

Prosecutors say the real soldiers, after getting the funds, turned over most of the money to Rosales for what he called “safekeeping.”
Rosales must repay the victims more than $28,000. (Army Times)

It looks like from the corporate side of the Sewol Ferry disaster the authorities are making the company’s president the fall guy:

The head of the operator of the South Korean Sewol ferry that sank in April killing more than 300 people has been sentenced to 10 years in jail.

The Gwangju district convicted Kim Han-sik, president of Chonghaejin Marine, of criminal negligence.
Investigators found the ferry had been overloaded with cargo which contributed to its sinking.
Last week, the court sentenced 15 crew members to between five and 36 years in prison. (BBC)

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see how this turns out:

After almost seven hours of testimony Monday, the Article 32 hearing for a senior Army National Guard officer charged with knowingly exposing a woman to HIV by having unprotected sex will continue into Tuesday.

Col. Jeffrey Pounding, a Special Forces officer who is currently assigned as the deputy director of the National Guard Bureau’s strategic plans and policy directorate (J-5), faces one charge each of assault, adultery and conduct unbecoming an officer.
The woman who is accusing Pounding of exposing her to HIV said their relationship began when they were both at Texas A&M University, where he was an Army fellow. ( Army Times)

You can read more at the link, but if it is proven this Colonel knowingly gave her HIV I would hope that would lead to jail time.

The captain of the Sewol ferry boat will likely die in prison considering his age, but I am surprised how the engineer was convicted of murder and not the captain:

A district court on Tuesday sentenced the captain of the sunken ferry Sewol to 36 years in prison for abandoning passengers at the time of the deadly sinking.

Lee Joon-seok, however, was acquitted of charges that he murdered 304 passengers as he left them behind while he was the first to be rescued when the ill-fated ship was sinking off South Korea’s southern coast on April 16.

The Gwangju District Court in this southern city convicted the 68-year-old skipper of gross negligence and dereliction of duty, including abandoning his ship while the passengers, most of them high school students on a school trip, remained trapped inside the ship.

“Captain Lee ordered the second mate to tell passengers to get off the ship when the patrol ship was about to arrive at the scene,” judge Lim Jung-yeob said in his ruling. “It is hard to conclude that the captain’s act eventually led to the death of the passengers just based on the evidence submitted by the prosecution.”

Prosecutors, who had earlier sought the death penalty against Lee, said they would immediately appeal the verdict.

In the same ruling, the Gwangju District Court sentenced the ship’s chief engineer, only identified by his surname Park, to 30 years in prison, convicting him of murder.

Prison terms ranging from five years to 20 years were delivered to 13 other crew members, including the first engineer surnamed Sohn, who have been charged with abandonment and violation of a ship safety act. (Yonhap)

I do find it interesting how these crew members are deservedly getting smashed with these sentences while the corporate owners and aids of the ferry boat company who in my opinion are the biggest villains get a slap on the wrist.

The light punishment for corporate criminals in Korea continues:

Yoo Dae-gyun, the eldest son of the late Yoo Byung-eun, the de facto owner of Chonghaejin Marine that operated the sunken ferry Sewol, was sentenced to three years in prison Wednesday in district court.

The Incheon District Court found him guilty of embezzlement and breach of trust.

The sentence was lighter than the four years imprisonment the prosecution had earlier demanded.

According to the court, the Yoo took 7.3 billion won in fees from seven companies owned by his family, including Chonghaejin, for using a trademark held by him from May 2002 to last December.

He obtained trademark rights for the name of Sewol’s sister ferry, Ohamana, and Chonghaejin paid him 3.5 billion won for the use of the name.

“We recognize Yoo embezzled the money under the name of trademark use and advisory service fees by taking advantage of the fact that he was the son of the senior Yoo who established those companies,” the court said.  [Korea Times]

Look at the sentences the other Yoo family members and aids received:

In the meantime, the late senior Yoo’s brothers, Byung-il and Byung-ho, were given a suspended jail term and two years in prison, respectively, for embezzlement and breach of trust at the companies for which they worked, which were also set up by the Yoo family.

Four other aides to the late senior Yoo, who were heads or high-ranking officials of the companies set up by the family, were sentenced to two to four years for embezzlement or breach of trust as well. Six other aides received suspended jail terms for the same charges.

How come I have a feeling that backroom deals were worked out for these sentences to keep people quiet about their collusion with government officials?