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Marine demoted, jailed for "hazing"
Rack Ops
Member Posts: 18,596 ✭✭✭
What a friggen crock....[V]
HONOLULU (Reuters) - A court-martial sentenced a Marine to 30 days of confinement and a demotion after he pleaded guilty to assaulting a fellow Marine who killed himself upon being beaten and hazed in Afghanistan.
Lance Corporal Jacob Jacoby entered his plea during the special court-martial proceeding on Monday at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe, on the island of Oahu, said Marine Corps spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Curtis Hill.
The sentence came down later on Monday night, reducing Jacoby's pay grade to Private First Class from Lance Corporal for the assault against Lance Corporal Harry Lew, 21.
After Jacoby agreed to plead guilty, charges that Jacoby humiliated Lew and another that he threatened the Marine were withdrawn, Hill said.
Lew shot himself with his automatic rifle in Afghanistan during a patrol in April 2011 after an incident in which military prosecutors said he was beaten and hazed by others in his unit for falling asleep while on sentry duty.
Lew was the nephew of U.S. Representative Judy Chu, a Democrat who represents El Monte, California, and surrounding areas. Chu attended the special court-martial proceeding on Monday in Hawaii, Hill said.
Special court-martial proceedings are pending for two other Marines charged with abusing Lew.
Jacoby pleaded guilty to striking Lew in the back with his foot and hitting the helmeted Marine in the head with his foot and a closed fist.
Jacoby's case on Monday was held before a special court-martial, which typically involves less severe punishment than a general court-martial.
He faced a maximum sentence of one year of confinement.
Captain Michael Regner, the company commander who oversaw Lew and other Marines, testified at a hearing last year he saw Lew asleep on watch as he approached the patrol base the night of the incident, a situation he said would leave the unit more vulnerable to attack.
HONOLULU (Reuters) - A court-martial sentenced a Marine to 30 days of confinement and a demotion after he pleaded guilty to assaulting a fellow Marine who killed himself upon being beaten and hazed in Afghanistan.
Lance Corporal Jacob Jacoby entered his plea during the special court-martial proceeding on Monday at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe, on the island of Oahu, said Marine Corps spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Curtis Hill.
The sentence came down later on Monday night, reducing Jacoby's pay grade to Private First Class from Lance Corporal for the assault against Lance Corporal Harry Lew, 21.
After Jacoby agreed to plead guilty, charges that Jacoby humiliated Lew and another that he threatened the Marine were withdrawn, Hill said.
Lew shot himself with his automatic rifle in Afghanistan during a patrol in April 2011 after an incident in which military prosecutors said he was beaten and hazed by others in his unit for falling asleep while on sentry duty.
Lew was the nephew of U.S. Representative Judy Chu, a Democrat who represents El Monte, California, and surrounding areas. Chu attended the special court-martial proceeding on Monday in Hawaii, Hill said.
Special court-martial proceedings are pending for two other Marines charged with abusing Lew.
Jacoby pleaded guilty to striking Lew in the back with his foot and hitting the helmeted Marine in the head with his foot and a closed fist.
Jacoby's case on Monday was held before a special court-martial, which typically involves less severe punishment than a general court-martial.
He faced a maximum sentence of one year of confinement.
Captain Michael Regner, the company commander who oversaw Lew and other Marines, testified at a hearing last year he saw Lew asleep on watch as he approached the patrol base the night of the incident, a situation he said would leave the unit more vulnerable to attack.
Comments
Jacoby forgot to say "for instructional purposes only" before taking the appropriate correctional action.
As he kicked Lew in the head? Not sure I can muster any sympathy for the newly minted PFC.
Brad Steele
Not being a military person myself I won't go much further.
I can't imagine committing suicide because someone kicked my helmeted head after I fell asleep on duty.
I will leave this up to those with experience.
Think being related to a US Rep. has anything to do with it?
Not being a military person myself I won't go much further.
I can't imagine committing suicide because someone kicked my helmeted head after I fell asleep on duty.
I will leave this up to those with experience.
I totally agree..Dude had bigger problems than a sleeping disorder+1
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2094393/Jacob-Jacoby-jailed-30-days-hazing-soldier-later-committed-suicide.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
Marine jailed for 30 days after hazing soldier who later committed suicide
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2094393/Jacob-Jacoby-jailed-30-days-hazing-soldier-later-committed-suicide.html#ixzz1l4ts577l
By GRAHAM SMITH
A U.S. Marine has been jailed for 30 days for punching and kicking a fellow Marine who killed himself shortly afterwards.
Lance Corporal Jacob Jacoby will also have his rank reduced, a judge ruled at a special court-martial at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay yesterday.
But there was no evidence that the abuse led to the suicide of Lance Corporal Harry Lew, she said.
Jailed: Lance Corporal Jacob Jacoby arrives at his court-martial at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay yesterday. He admitted punching and kicking a fellow Marine who killed himself shortly afterwards Jacoby, who pleaded guilty to assault, admitted attacking Lew in frustration after the 21-year-old fell asleep while on watch for Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
One of three Marines accused of hazing, he told a judge he wanted to talk to Lew to find out why he kept falling asleep but got angry when Lew spoke to him in a disrespectful manner.
Squad members and officers had tried different methods to get Lew to stay awake, including referring him up the chain of command for discipline and taking him off patrols so he could get more rest.
Suicide: Lance Corporal Harry Lew shot himself in the head last April while stationed at Gowragi Patrol Base, Afghanistan
But on Lew's last night, when he fell asleep again, those efforts escalated into alleged acts of violence and humiliation, according to the charges.
The Marines were accused of punching and kicking him, making him do push-ups and pouring sand in his face.
A central issue in the case has been whether the Marines intended to humiliate and harm Lew or discipline him.
Before Lew shot himself in April with his machine gun, he scrawled a note on his arm: 'May hate me now, but in the long run this was the right choice I'm sorry my mom deserves the truth.'
Lew's father, Allen Lew, said he doesn't understand how Marines could do the things they did to their own.
He said: 'My son died - I have only one son.'
Navy Captain Carrie Stephens, the judge in Jacoby's special court-martial, said she found no evidence that Jacoby's abuse caused Lew to kill himself. She said she didn't take the suicide into account when determining the sentence.
As part of the plea deal, prosecutors withdrew charges that Jacoby humiliated and threatened Lew.
Before sentencing, Jacoby said he was sorry and that he wanted to take responsibility for his actions.
He said: 'I allowed my emotions and frustrations to get the best of me, and acted out against a fellow Marine.'
Co-accused: Sergeant Benjamin Johns (left) and Lance Corporal Carlos Orozco III (right) will have their own separate courts-martial
Navy Lieutenant John Battisi, Jacoby's attorney, asked the judge to keep in mind the circumstances the Marines were in, and that the chain of command had not addressed Lew's sleeping problem.
Two other Marines are accused in the case. Sergeant Benjamin Johns, the leader of the squad the Marines belonged to, and Lance Corporal Carlos Orozco III will have their own separate courts-martial.
Lew was a nephew of U.S. Republican Judy Chu, who attended the hearing.
Usually you only get caught once. The most unpleasant repercussions resulting ensure you never do it again.
As he kicked Lew in the head? Not sure I can muster any sympathy for the newly minted PFC.
Based on the descriptions I read, my assumption is that he kicked the guy in the head as he was asleep at his post........which, by the way, is still a capital offense under the UCMJ.
The kid deserved a thrashing at the very least....as he put everyone else in danger, and had apparently done so several times in the past as well.
That kind of behavior would never have been tolerated in my platoon.
This guy got a little blanket party, he deserved it.
I was new to the desert, and honestly didn't take the hydration part seriously......I "fell out" about halfway through the hike...
We had hard-* NCOs.....they divided up the items in my rucksack and carried them the rest of the way.
When we got back to the barracks, I had to go around to every one of them asking for my stuff back.......and I "paid" for each and every single item. I never fell out a hike again....no matter how bad I hurt..
In retrospect, maybe I should have had all of the NCO's court-martialed for "hazing" me. After all, its not like being a combat Marine is a serious thing.
quote:Originally posted by cce1302
Jacoby forgot to say "for instructional purposes only" before taking the appropriate correctional action.
As he kicked Lew in the head? Not sure I can muster any sympathy for the newly minted PFC.
I'm just glad that Lew's incompetence and failure to perform his duties did not result in the death of anyone but himself.
Lew didn't forget to sign out of the barracks in 29 Palms, or show up late for work at Camp Lejeune. He fell asleep on sentry duty in a combat zone, an action that could have killed the rest of his squad.
Isn't that about as bad as it gets?
3 weeks after I made it to the Fleet, my company was scheduled to do a 15 mile forced march.
I was new to the desert, and honestly didn't take the hydration part seriously......I "fell out" about halfway through the hike...
We had hard-* NCOs.....they divided up the items in my rucksack and carried them the rest of the way.
When we got back to the barracks, I had to go around to every one of them asking for my stuff back.......and I "paid" for each and every single item. I never fell out a hike again....no matter how bad I hurt..
In retrospect, maybe I should have had all of the NCO's court-martialed for "hazing" me. After all, its not like being a combat Marine is a serious thing.
It sounds like your NCO's took care of you and that Lew's command failed the troops by jeopardizing their safety, to include, Lew's as well.
If he were the nephew of a Republican from.....
And this Marine did this more than once, apparently. He took the easy way out. But where was his Sergeant and Captain in all of this?
This isn't a "code red" or any crap like that. This was real life and he put his squad at risk.
More than once, when I was on active duty (as an Army corpseman), I worked a 14 hour day, & was then given an assignment to stay up all night. The first time this happened, I asked my SGT the next morning if I could take an hour nap. DENIED. So, I never asked again.
How many hours can anyone stay awake? Even in a combat zone. If you haven't been in the guys shoes, you just don't know.
Whatever branch of the military, these guys know that you can't beat up on a fellow soldier. And, with the anti-suicide initiatives, you'd better not "haze" anyone. IT'S THE MILITARY. If you can't follow orders, DON'T JOIN.
Neal