Air Force General Convicted in Historic Court-Martial Avoids Jail Time

[Shipwack]

I hate it when I'm right... I called this several days ago...

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/04/26/air-force-general-convicted-historic-court-martial-avoids-jail-time.html

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- Maj. Gen. William Cooley, the first Air Force general ever convicted in a court-martial, will not serve jail time.

Instead, military judge Col. Christina Jimenez sentenced Cooley, who was convicted Saturday of abusive sexual contact, to forfeit $10,910 of pay for five months and a letter of reprimand from the court-martial convening authority, Air Force Materiel Command chief Gen. Arnold Bunch.

Cooley faced a maximum sentence of seven years of confinement, separation and loss of pay and benefits.

No jail time, no reduction of rank, just a fine and he'll be able to retire at his convenience with full military benefits and a pension.

Oh, and he's going to appeal even this minor* punishment.

*I know, I know... $10K a month for 5 months is a lot of money to me and probably you, but considering that he makes AT LEAST $15K a month he's not going to starve anytime soon...

[2naSalit]

1. AFBS!!!

Absolute fucking bullshit!

[Delmette2.0]

2. And what do his victims get?

[lindysalsagal]

7. Probably so much abuse, they'll consider quitting.

Women are still considered lower class citizens in america.

[Delmette2.0]

8. I suspect they have left their positions.

We will never know who they were or how they are doing.

[qazplm135]

3. So former JAG here

1. You can't reduce an officer's rank at court-martial. It's not an option. You CAN reduce it upon retirement to the rank they last served honorably, which would probably be BG or Colonel depending on when the misconduct happened. Not defending the rule, just saying it wasn't an option for the judge.

2. This is probably an average sentence for a junior officer or enlisted convicted of this level in my experience. Again, not defending it, just saying abusive sexual contact is more or less the lowest level of criminality and with that comes lower level punishments. I think I recall seeing a removal from the military for such an offense before, but definitely recall several with a few months in prison max.

3. Now, I always subscribed to the idea that the higher the rank, the higher the culpability. So if I had been the judge, I definitely would have prescribed some jail time. Dismissal would require me to know more about the case.

[Shipwack]

6. Thank you for your insights. nt

[okaawhatever]

9. Thanks for taking the time to explain. nt

[Baitball Blogger]

4. The military gets a status higher than the average citizen.

This is wrong. It's one thing to show respect and thankfulness for their service. It's another thing to bestow them privileges that raise them above average citizens. This is taking it too far, especially when we have our own stories of how so many abuse it.

[NCjack]

5. Gen. Cooley is 100% pig. He hid behind his wife's skirt -- please don't

kick me out, as that will deprieve my loving wife of her part of my retirement pension.

Maybe the Air Force will give him a never ending series of shitty assignments, causing him to retire or to erase himself.

[ze8xtw4yr]

10. Someone with actual facts

MGen Cooley's twin brother is a diagnosed sadistic narcissist -- just ask him. Over the past several decades he and his wife have alienated every member of both of their families through their anger, scams, and outright lies. Their false accusations against MGen Cooley are just the latest chapter in their sad, ugly saga. Even if you believe every word of their testimony (which means you can hold contradictory "facts" in your head without experiencing cognitive dissonance), MGen Cooley was convicted only of kissing his sister-in-law without her consent -- the "crime" does not imply any force or violence. The truth is that she kissed him, then lied to her husband to avoid a fight, and had to keep telling more lies to cover up the ones she had already told. The twin eventually reported the fictitious incident to the AFOSI in a confused attempt to advance his own career, days after pronouncing publicly, "It's time to take Bill down."

Do you still think $54K is a light sentence? How about having your good name dragged through the mud in the national media by your mentally ill in-laws?

If you don't know the facts, don't fantasize that you know what the verdict and sentence should have been.

[Hekate]

11. Could you please provide a link to substantiate your post? Since I haven't been following this case

… at all, I wouldn’t know, only that the charges sounded very serious — and that your counter-argument also sounds serious.

Since you’re new here, just know you should choose news sources that are not right-wing. That is, not Murdoch Empire creations.

Thank you.

[FSogol]

12. Are you the sister-in-law?

[Hekate]

13. Nope, just wondered if concerned newby might actually know something

[FSogol]

14. My question was directed to ze8xtw4yr. n/t

[Hekate]

15. Oops -- haven't had coffee yet

[FSogol]

16. No worries. n/t