Deployed airmen plead guilty to thefts

  • Published
  • By Capt. Kelley Thibodeau
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) --  Two airmen pleaded guilty and were sentenced recently to bad conduct discharges, reductions in rank and confinement for a series of thefts that occurred here during a two-week period in October.

Airman 1st Class Victor Adams Jr. and Airman Jamie Smith pleaded guilty to multiple counts of larceny and one count of conspiracy during special courts-martial before a military judge.

Adams and Smith conspired to steal three laptop computers and a video game system from deployed people here, officials said. The airmen were acquaintances from their home station and had been on base less than 10 days when they began their crime spree.

The crimes were solved by a three-person security forces investigative team that eventually garnered a confession from Adams and recovered the stolen property from Smith’s work center.

Adams, of the 379th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of larceny. He was sentenced to a demotion to airman basic, confinement for six months, a fine of $1,500 and a bad-conduct discharge.

Smith, of the 745th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and four counts of larceny. She was sentenced to a demotion to airman basic, five-months confinement and a bad-conduct discharge.

Adams and Smith will be confined in the United States. Lt. Col. Jeff Slagle, 379th Air Expeditionary Wing staff judge advocate, said he is hopeful their trials will have a deterrent effect on others who may contemplate such actions.

“The accused were confined within five weeks of the discovery of their criminal actions,” Slagle said. “They were afforded their due-process rights, and the military justice system worked as it should.

“Aberrant behavior warrants harsh consequences, and these two individuals are now learning how harsh it can be,” he said. “I hope others who may contemplate bending the rules will learn something from these two and keep on the straight and narrow.”