thedrifter
01-14-09, 07:59 AM
Marine guilty of adultery with widow of 3 weeks
SAN DIEGO: A married gunnery sergeant yesterday pleaded guilty to adultery after having sex with the widow of a fellow Marine who had died in Afghanistan three weeks before.
A panel of two officers and six enlisted Marines sentenced Stephen Kuehler, 30, a recruiter in suburban St. Louis, to 90 days in prison during a court-martial at Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. The trial was held at the base because it is the regional headquarters for St. Louis-based recruiters.
Kuehler had recruited Pfc. Michael Patton when Patton was in high school. Patton joined the Marine Corps shortly after graduating in spring 2007. He finished boot camp in San Diego that summer and married his high school sweetheart, Amy.
Patton deployed with his unit to Afghanistan last April. He and three other Marines were killed June 14 when a roadside bomb blew up their Humvee.
Amy Patton testified yesterday about a sexual encounter with Kuehler on July 4 after she drank half a beer, a few sips of wine and some tequila.
Patton said the alcohol made her drunk because of a prescription antidepressant she was taking.
In August, Amy Patton said, she told her mother about the encounter and reported it to the Marine Corps. About the same time, Kuehler confessed his indiscretion to his wife and chain of command. He has continued to work for the recruiting district, though not with potential recruits, said his supervisor, Sgt. Maj. Anthony Banks. –S.L.
Ellie
SAN DIEGO: A married gunnery sergeant yesterday pleaded guilty to adultery after having sex with the widow of a fellow Marine who had died in Afghanistan three weeks before.
A panel of two officers and six enlisted Marines sentenced Stephen Kuehler, 30, a recruiter in suburban St. Louis, to 90 days in prison during a court-martial at Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. The trial was held at the base because it is the regional headquarters for St. Louis-based recruiters.
Kuehler had recruited Pfc. Michael Patton when Patton was in high school. Patton joined the Marine Corps shortly after graduating in spring 2007. He finished boot camp in San Diego that summer and married his high school sweetheart, Amy.
Patton deployed with his unit to Afghanistan last April. He and three other Marines were killed June 14 when a roadside bomb blew up their Humvee.
Amy Patton testified yesterday about a sexual encounter with Kuehler on July 4 after she drank half a beer, a few sips of wine and some tequila.
Patton said the alcohol made her drunk because of a prescription antidepressant she was taking.
In August, Amy Patton said, she told her mother about the encounter and reported it to the Marine Corps. About the same time, Kuehler confessed his indiscretion to his wife and chain of command. He has continued to work for the recruiting district, though not with potential recruits, said his supervisor, Sgt. Maj. Anthony Banks. –S.L.
Ellie