At 12 he is old enough to know right from wrong. There are many examples on google of kids being tried as adults, as young as 8 that I know of, and even a 4 year old was allowed, by a US Judge, to be sued. Ignorance of the law is no excuse to break the law. That is a fact used many times by both police and judges. Ignoring all that...

He did NOT do the right thing. The right thing would have been him going back to HIS country as soon as possible. 18 latest.

Once he became 18 he was, by US law, an adult. He stayed in the US, illegally as an adult, for 6 more years. He only left when he was unable to work illegally.

He posts a SoB story to get a Visa to come here legally. He joined the Military to get a fast track on US Citizenship because a Visa is only temporary.

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/theorder ... enship.htm

Service During Hostilities : By Executive Order Number 13269

"This means that individuals with even one day of honorable active duty service can apply for citizenship, regardless of how long they have been a resident."
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He only has to serve active duty in the military one day, under current laws, to apply for citizenship. The tax payers will be paying for his military education, pay, training,etc and he gets a free pass for all the crimes he has committed in the US.