Marine pleads guilty to unauthorized absence

Marine pleads guilty to unauthorized absence
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Dec 20, 2008 7:45:13 EST

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Lance Cpl. Lance Hering’s short career ended Friday in a military courtroom when he pleaded guilty to a count of unauthorized absence. By day’s end, the Marine Corps had administratively separated him from service.

The summary court-martial officer, Capt. William J. Ryan, sentenced Hering to forfeiture of $1,166 and 60-days restriction without loss of rank. Because one day of confinement equals two days of restriction, Hering’s 33 days in jail will count as the full time served

Hering has been turned over to the Boulder, Colo., sheriff’s office “and is now in the hands of civilian authorities,” base spokeswoman Maj. Kristen Lasica said late Friday. Boulder authorities have two arrest warrants pending against the young Marine.

Hering was apprehended Nov. 16 by authorities in Port Angeles, Wash., as he boarded his father’s Cessna airplane, ending a 25-month disappearance. The infantryman had last been seen Aug. 30, 2006, at a state park near Boulder, Colo., where he and a friend had reportedly gone rock climbing.

Hering, then a member of Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, at Camp Pendleton, Calif., had not been seen since.


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/12/marine_deserter_121908w/%2e