Gunny can’t retire after theft convictionBy Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Feb 2, 2009 5:57:26 EST
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — A staff noncommissioned officer who pocketed $36,000 after he and another Marine recycled 15 tons of brass ammo casings taken from a Camp Pendleton range will avoid serious jail time, but he won’t be allowed to retire from the Corps, a military jury determined in January.
Gunnery Sgt. Steven Everett, 37, a logistics chief assigned to Marine Corps Special Operations Command’s 1st Special Missions Training Branch, was convicted Jan. 22 on felony charges of larceny, conspiracy and selling government property. He was busted to sergeant, and given 30 days of hard labor, a $10,000 fine and the promise of four months in the brig if he doesn’t pay the full amount.
The jury awarded no discharge to Everett, who entered the Corps in 1992 and whose current enlistment ends in two years, but the conviction will effectively deny him an opportunity to reach the 20-year mark. That punishment will cost him tens of thousands in retirement pay and benefits.
Everett faced up to 20 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge. He did not testify during his three-day general court-martial but made an unsworn statement apologizing.
“I never thought my career would come to this,” he said.
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