Thread: Marines: Looking for a Few Good Aliens?

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Marines: Looking for a Few Good Aliens?
Recruiter on trial for selling IDs to enlist illegals

by Douglas Gillison
October 4th, 2005 5:11 PM

On Wednesday, a general court martial is to begin at Parris Island, South Carolina, for a U.S. Marine recruiter accused of selling and delivering counterfeit documents to illegal aliens in order for them to join the service.
Gunnery Sergeant Hubert A. Lucas, 35, is one of four suspects named in a report by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, part of which was obtained by the Voice.

The report says an investigation began on August 11, 2004, after an intelligence report by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency revealed that a Marine at Camp Pendleton in California, who had admitted to entering the United States illegally and enlisting with a counterfeit green card and stolen Social Security number, identified Lucas as the individual who charged her $250 for the documents for the purpose of effecting her fraudulent enlistment in the Marine Corps.

During an interview, the Marine told immigration authorities that she bought the counterfeit documents from people in New York City who told her they’d be delivered to a specific hotel in Miami and to await further instructions. Those eventual instructions were to enlist at the Marine recruiting sub-station in Perrine in Miami-Dade County, Florida. According to the report, the recruit also said she “engaged in a consensual sexual relationship� with Lucas. (One of the charges against Lucas is that he housed one or more prospective recruits in his personal quarters.)

Her accusations prompted a review of recruiting activity at the Perrine sub-station. According to the report, investigators found 23 recruits who may have fraudulently entered the Marine Corps. Twenty suspect alien registration numbers, along with Social Security numbers for all 23 recruits, were queried through federal databases. It turned out that every single one was “either completely fraudulent or assigned to a different person.� The investigation later identified three more alien recruits suspected of fraudulently enlisting.

The charges against Lucas span from late 2001 to mid-2004, and include fraudulent enlistment, conspiracy to commit fraud, and dereliction of duty. Potential sanctions include dishonorable discharge, several years’ jail time and forfeiture of pay, according to a Marine Corps spokesman.

Captain John Schwab, defense counsel for Lucas, was unable to comment for this article.

Investigators seems prepared to say this was simply a money-making scheme. “The facts seem to indicate that this was only a for-profit fraud case and it is being investigated as such,� said NCIS spokesman Ed Buice in an e-mail.

Lucas’s trial comes at time when the Army is having trouble meeting its recruiting goals, a shortfall generally attributed to the prolonged and bloody combat in Iraq. But unlike the Army, the Marine Corps reported that it has been exceeding its goals, enlisting 29,173 recruits between October 1, 2004, and August 31 of this year. At the Lucas sub-station, “productivity was about average,� said Master Sergeant Rhys Evans, a spokesperson for the Sixth Marine Corps District.

Legal permanent residents are allowed to serve in the armed forces, if they present a green card. It used to be that those cards, as with documents from native-born recruits, where vetted by the recruiter and a liaison from the local Military Entrance Processing Station, according to a Marine Corps spokesman.

But last year, after several cases surfaced of illegal aliens enlisting in the military using counterfeit documents, the Defense Department told the Military Entrance Processing Command to begin verifying alien registration and Social Security numbers with the appropriate federal authorities. This may mean that many illegal aliens who have enlisted since are case s of identify-theft.

There are currently about 37,500 foreign nationals from over 200 countries serving in the active duty forces and reserves . Seventy-one have died in Iraq and three in Afghanistan. The law currently provides for expediting the citizenship applications of U.S. service personnel, who become eligible to apply the first day they enlist. The presence of non-citizens in the U.S. armed forces dates back to the 18th centuryâ€â€

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The Few, the Proud, the Guilty
Marines recruiter convicted of providing fake documents to enlist illegal aliens

by Douglas Gillison
October 13th, 2005 1:37 PM

A Marine Corps recruiter was found guilty Wednesday of providing counterfeit documents to illegal aliens in order for them to enlist fraudulently in the service. The verdict was rendered in a court-martial at the Marine Corps base in Parris Island, South Carolina.
A five-member panel, akin to the jury at a civilian trial, returned its verdict after five hours of deliberations. Later that evening, the panel sentenced Gunnery Sergeant Hubert A. Lucas, 35, to a year in prison and a bad conduct discharge, and reduced his rank by six levels to that of private, the lowest rank for enlisted personnel.

According to his lawyer, Captain John Schwab, Lucas had been facing up to 34 years in prison.

The panel convicted Lucas on six of the eight charges prosecutors had brought against him. Lucas was found not guilty of having had an illicit sexual relationship with a female applicant and not guilty of attempting to impede the investigation into his activities and influence the applicant's testimony.

However, the panel found Lucas guilty of fraudulent enlistment, fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, dereliction of duty, and improper fraternization with the applicant.

These activities allegedly occurred between March 2002 and July 2004, according to the charge sheet in Lucas's case.

At trial, Lucas denied the charges against him and, according to the Marine Corps Times, Schwab argued that although the recruits in question did enlist with counterfeit documents, there was no evidence to indicate that they had obtained the documents from Lucas. Yet Captain Jeffrey King, who prosecuted the case, convinced panel members that prosecution witnesses had no reason to lie.

In August of last year, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service began an inquiry into the activities of Lucas and three other individuals at a recruiting sub-station in Perrine, Florida. According to an NCIS report, part of which was obtained by the Voice, a review of documents on file at the sub-station found 23 recruits who appeared to have fraudulently entered the Marine Corps. Suspect alien registration as well as Social Security numbers for 23 applicants were queried through federal databases and all were “either completely fraudulent or assigned to a different person,� according to the report. Investigators also identified three more alien recruits suspected of fraudulently enlisting.

An NCIS spokesman said that the investigation was still underway and that investigators had seen no motive other than greed. (Lucas was accused of charging one applicant $250 for her fake documents).

Of the U.S. military's four active-duty branches, only the army failed to meet its recruiting goals for the 2005 fiscal year. The Marine Corps fulfilled its goal by 102 percent; at the sub-station were Lucas worked, “productivity was about average� both before and after his time there, according to a Marines Corps spokesman.

There are about 37,500 foreign nationals serving in the U.S. armed forces, but it's impossible to know how many service members are not lawful permanent residents. In order to enlist, non-U.S. residents must present a green card. Yet it was not until last year that the military began to verify applicants' alien registration numbers with the Department of Homeland Security.

In the last two years there have been several published cases of illegal aliens having fought or died in combat or faced discharge. Immigration attorneys contacted by the Voice admitted to representing other such clients and indicated the phenomenon may be more widespread than officially acknowledged.

Federal law authorizes the military to enlist illegal aliens during wartime, and an army spokeswoman confirmed to the Voice that commanding officers do in fact have the discretion to not to bring proceedings against soldiers discovered to be illegal aliens. However, current military policy is to enlist only citizens and permanent residents.