Thread: NCO Gets 8 Years in HIV Exposure Case

NCO Gets 8 Years in HIV Exposure Case

January 20, 2011
Associated Press

WICHITA, Kan. -- A disgraced Air Force sergeant will spend up to eight years in prison for exposing multiple sex partners to HIV at swinger parties in a sentence that the prosecution hopes will send the message that the military values the integrity of its servicemembers.

A court-martial judge on Wednesday also ordered Tech. Sgt. David Gutierrez to be dishonorably discharged and reduced him to the lowest enlistment rank while he serves out his military confinement.

The judge, Lt. Col William Muldoon, found him guilty earlier in the day on seven of eight counts of aggravated assault and of violating his commander's order to notify partners about his HIV status and use condoms. The judge also convicted Gutierrez of indecent acts for having sex in front of others and of eight counts of adultery.

The 43-year-old Airman appeared crestfallen as the judge handed down a sentence that will cost Gutierrez the military medical benefits he had tearfully begged to keep.

Before he was sentenced, Gutierrez had sobbed as he told Muldoon that he was willing to spend more time in jail rather than lose the medical benefits.

"The possibility of a future without assistance does scare me -- scares me to the core," he tearfully said. "The cost of medicine is very expensive and I don't know if I can afford it."

Gutierrez apologized to the court, the Air Force, his family and his sexual partners. He said he thanks God every day none of his partners contracted the virus and asked the judge to have mercy on him so he can live to see his two children graduate from college and get married.

Prosecutors had argued Gutierrez played Russian roulette with his sexual partners' lives.

"The accused was not thinking about how his victims would pay for their medications," Capt. Sam Kidd said.

Kidd told the judge that the sentence he would hand down would "speak volumes" to the community and send a message that the military values integrity first in its servicemembers. He said the victims thought they could trust Gutierrez because he was in the military.

"He preyed on this community," Kidd said.

Defense attorneys pleaded with the judge not to impose the punitive discharge that would strip his benefits.

"He is looking at his own mortality as he looks down the road," said defense attorney Maj. James Dorman.

Dr. Donna Sweet testified that the cost of HIV medication typically runs between $1,700 and $1,800 a month, and HIV-infected patients on average spend between $28,000 and $30,000 annually for their medical care.

Without medical care, infected patients usually die within 10 years, she said. But with proper care and medication, a 20-year-old person who contracts HIV can easily expect to live to age 70.

A Wichita woman who said she has lived a swinger lifestyle for six years testified at the sentencing hearing that she found out from news reports about the case that she had been exposed to HIV.

"Actually I started crying," she said. "I was kind of mortified."

Another woman who testified against Gutierrez during the court-martial sat in the gallery during the sentencing phase and wiped tears from her eyes as he said he was sorry he betrayed the friendships he had with his partners.

"I hope they understand I never intended to hurt them, and I sincerely ask for their forgiveness," Gutierrez said.

The Associated Press is not naming the Airman's sexual partners because they are alleged victims of sexual crimes.

Several people who participated in swinger and partner-swapping events with Gutierrez and his wife testified this week that they never would have had sex with him had he told them he was HIV-positive.

Gutierrez repeatedly denied that he was infected, and he was encouraged by his wife to carry on with swinger events, several witnesses testified during the Airman's court-martial at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita.

Gutierrez originally was charged with 10 counts of aggravated assault and with violating his squadron commander's order to notify partners about his HIV status and use condoms. The judge granted a prosecution request Wednesday to drop two of the assault charges and one of the adultery charges.

http://www.military.com/news/article/nc ... 6032325324

I am only posting this because of the huge push to allow gays in the military

The last numbers I seen was that there were over 32,000 in the Military that were HIV Positive

that means they are NON-DEPLOYABLE ... they stay in the rear with the gear (No Pun Intended)

That means everyone else has to pick up their slack and go through extra deployment rotations

that means 32,000 soldiers . Marines etc. had to go to Iraq or Afghsnistan to fill in for an HIV positive soldier

I got sick of it

Everyone gets sick of it (Pulling other peoples weight)

Air Force Chief Pleads Guilty to Sexual Misconduct

January 25, 2011
Associated Press

MASCOUTAH, Ill. - A senior Ohio Air Force base official pleaded guilty on Monday to sexual misconduct and adultery, blaming extramarital affairs he had with married female subordinates and inappropriate sexual advances he made toward others on getting "caught up in a cycle of sin."

Chief Master Sgt. William Gurney was the senior enlisted man at the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, when allegations of sexual impropriety surfaced in 2009.

While entering his guilty pleas to 13 counts at Scott Air Force Base in southwestern Illinois, the 27-year Air Force veteran told Air Force Col. W. Thomas Cumbie, the military judge overseeing his case, about indiscretions dating back to mid-2007. He said he had had sex with four married women based at Wright-Patterson who were lower in rank than him, and that he exchanged sexually explicit pictures with and kissed or fondled female subordinates.

Gurney also told Cumbie that he twice had sex with his wife in front of a married enlistee whose husband was unaware.

"I was caught in a cycle of sin," Gurney said, before admitting he "failed not only as an airman but as a husband."

Cumbie tossed out an obstruction of justice count against Gurney, but Gurney still faces five counts to which he has pleaded not guilty. Those counts allege that he made sexual advances toward two subordinates that amounted to mistreatment, that he fondled one of those women and that he abused his authority.

Court martial proceedings began Monday on those five counts, and a six-person jury was chosen from among ranking officers at Scott Air Force Base. Gurney could face up to 14 1/2 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge for the charges he pleaded guilty to Monday, and an additional four years in prison if convicted of the five other counts. Opening statements are expected to begin Tuesday.

Among the charges Gurney pleaded guilty to were seven counts of dereliction of duty - one for each enlisted woman he was accused of making inappropriate advances toward - and four counts of adultery. He also admitted to using his military-issued cell phone and computer to exchange explicit e-mails and texts, and to having had sex with his wife while a female enlistee watched.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys told Cumbie that Gurney's guilty pleas were made without any promise of a lesser punishment or the dismissal of other counts.

None of the women mentioned in the charges was in the courtroom as Gurney described their encounters for the first time in public. Cumbie has told attorneys not to discuss the case publicly.

Gurney had transferred to Wright-Patterson in 2008 from Hill Air Force Base in Utah, where he was command chief of the Ogden Air Logistics Center and 75th Air Base Wing.

http://www.military.com/news/article/ai ... 6032325324

Reserve Officer Gets 80 Yrs for Child Porn

January 19, 2011
Virginian-Pilot

NORFOLK -- A former Pentagon intelligence official was sentenced Tuesday to 80 years in federal prison in what a judge called probably the worst child exploitation case he has seen in 26 years on the bench.

Scottie Lee Martinez, 38, of Dumfries, received the maximum penalty by U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Friedman. Martinez previously pleaded guilty to producing child pornography and abusive sexual conduct with a minor.

Martinez admitted that in 2009 he produced sexually explicit images of two minors, ages 5 and 11. He also admitted that he molested a child, who was between 7 and 9, at Naval Air Station Keflavik, Iceland, between 2001 and 2004.

Martinez's crimes came to light when an Air Force officer discovered child pornography on a computer network at Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar, and it was traced to Martinez's computer. Martinez had been stationed in Norfolk before leaving for Qatar.

At the time of his arrest, Martinez was a Navy Reserve lieutenant commander serving as a senior intelligence officer with the Pentagon's Office of Military Commissions.

http://www.military.com/news/article/na ... 6032325324

Parents Embezzled Disabled GI’s Money

January 20, 2011
Knight Ridder/Tribune

A combination of jail time and community service has been ordered for the couple accused of misappropriating as much as $167,000 of their disabled son's assets.

The Naults' son, Shane, was a U.S. Army specialist who was severely injured following a May 2007 explosion in Baghdad.

"We love our son," Michael Nault said Thursday as he fought back tears before he and his wife Lori were sentenced for embezzling their son's money.

Eau Claire County assistant district attorney Gary Schuster said the Naults misused at least $100,000 of their son's money -- about $50,000 of which was used for gambling.

"We're sorry for what we've done," Michael Nault said.

Michael and Lori Nault, both 52, of S8725 County Line Road, Mondovi, pleaded guilty Thursday in Eau Claire County Court to a felony count of embezzlement. A felony count of false swearing in a government setting was dismissed.

"Mike and Lori Nault love their son, Shane," defense attorney Phillip Steans of Menomonie said in a statement on behalf of the Naults.

"They are paying, and will continue to pay for the rest of their lives, for mistakes they made at a time they were under severe stress," he said.

"The progress Shane has made in his rehabilitation under their care is a tribute to their love and commitment," Steans said.

A joint sentencing recommendation by Schuster and Steans was accepted by Judge Lisa Stark, who placed the Naults on three years of probation.

Michael Nault was given the option of spending seven months in jail or five months in jail and performing 480 hours of community service.

Lori Nault has the option of spending five months in jail or performing 480 hours of community service. She is being offered the option of spending no time in jail because she is Shane's primary caregiver, Schuster said.

Authorities say Michael and Lori Nault spent at least $53,000 of Shane Nault's money on 98 separate trips to multiple casinos.

The sentence "is reasonable and holds them accountable," Schuster said. "There is protection for Shane Nault's finances."

Restitution was not a part of the criminal case because it was covered as part of a confidential settlement approved in December 2009 by Judge Paul Lenz in a civil guardianship case, Schuster and Steans said.

Stark called the case "a very emotional issue, a difficult issue."

The case caused "outrage and frustration in the community," she said.

The Naults have physical guardianship of their son while Alternate Decision Makers of Minneapolis has guardianship over Shane's finances.

Steven Grisham, president of Alternate Decision Makers, told Stark he understood the sentencing recommendation but was critical of the Naults' behavior in the misuse of their son's money.

"They not only defrauded their son, they defrauded the people of Eau Claire County," Grisham said, noting that area residents held several fundraisers on Shane's behalf.

"They profited from their son's horrific injuries," Grisham said. "If ever a case cries for punishment, this one does."

A life altered

Following in his father's footsteps, Shane Nault entered the Army in 2005 after graduating from Memorial High School. He was deployed to Iraq in November 2006.

In ensuing months, he encountered three improvised explosive devices, which damaged his hearing. Nault -- then a specialist -- was seriously injured when a fourth IED exploded May 8, 2007, while he and his unit were on patrol.

Nault's life changed significantly that day. Shrapnel from the IED entered his head at his left temple, went through his brain's frontal lobe and exited just above the right temple. He later suffered a stroke.

Since then, Nault fought to recover at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and then at the Minneapolis VA Hospital, before returning April 19, 2008, to the handicapped-accessible home his parents had built to accommodate him in the town of Brunswick south of Eau Claire.

According to the criminal complaint:

An official with the county's Department of Human Services believed Shane's guardianship account was misused by his parents.

Because of his brain injuries, Shane was not competent to make decisions and required 24-hour care. His parents were caring for him at their home.

The initial investigation showed several withdrawals had been made from Shane's account at Majestic Pines Casino in Black River Falls.

A forensics accountant determined the Naults used 76 percent of Shane's assets from his nine bank accounts for their personal use from May 2007 to December 2008.

http://www.military.com/news/article/pa ... 6032325324