Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair was sentenced Thursday, receiving no jail time. He was reprimanded, whatever that means, and is required to give up his pay of $5,000 a month for four months, for a total of $20,000. He will keep his pension.
Earlier this week, Sinclair pled guilty to a number of lesser charges including adultery, mistreating the female captain with whom he was having an affair, using his government credit card for their affair, contacting the female captain even though he had been asked not to, making inappropriate comments about and asking for explicit photographs from female Army officers, impeding the investigation by deleting sexually explicit emails and photos that may have been relevant, possessing pornography while overseas in Afghanistan and conducting inappropriate relationships with other female officers. As the case unraveled, charges accusing him of forcing the female captain to give him oral sex and threatening to kill her and her family if she revealed the nature of their relationship to anyone were dropped. According to the nature of the plea deal Sinclair struck with the prosecution, the judge could have sentenced him to no more than 18 months in prison. Sinclair originally faced a life sentence in prison.
In court on Wednesday, Sinclair cried, apologizing for his actions. He requested that he not be removed entirely from the military so that he family could receive his military pension benefits. "I ask you to retire me at a reduced rank and not punish my family, depriving them of benefits they have earned," he said. Upon hearing his sentence Thursday, Sinclair smiled and hugged his lawyers. He will reportedly be retiring shortly, though the judge granted his wish to stay in the military. Good riddance.
Image via Ted Richardson/AP