3 Marines face charges of adultery, marrying for financial gain

[ChuckH]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/02/cal...html?hpt=hp_t2

(CNN) -- Three California Marines have been charged with marrying for financial gain, accused of manipulating the military's off-base housing program so a lesbian couple could live together, according to a woman at the center of the case.
Marine Cpl. Ashley Vice says she and two others have been charged with conspiracy, making false official statements, fraud and adultery for allegedly marrying to collect thousands in financial assistance offered by the military to heterosexual married couples.
"The bottom line is that every Marine knows if they violate the law, they will be held accountable for their actions," 1st Lt. Maureen Dooley, a Marine spokeswoman at Camp Pendleton, told CNN.
"Regardless of sexual preference, we will hold all Marines accountable to the same standards."
Dooley would not release details about the case, saying the "investigation is ongoing."
Vice told CNN affiliate KGTV in San Diego that she wanted to live off base with her girlfriend, Jaime Murphy, as a couple. Murphy is a civilian.
But on her salary, she couldn't afford it.
So she says she found a Marine, Jeremiah Griffin, who agreed to marry her so she could receive the $1,200 per month living stipend the Marine Corps gives to married couples living off base.
A year and a half later, Murphy did the same thing and married Marine Joseph Garner, Vice and Murphy told KGTV, according to footage that aired Thursday.
Vice said she was questioned by the Marine Corps about the living arrangements.
"I honestly didn't even try to hide it," she said. "I just said this is what's going on. They asked me who Jaime is ... I told them."
The three Marines are accused of pocketing about $75,000.
"There's no conspiracy here," Murphy told KGTV. "There's no trying to steal from anybody. We just wanted to be together and she wanted to serve her country."
Vice and the two others face up to a year in prison if convicted on all counts. They also face the possibility of a dishonorable discharge, a reduction in rank and forfeiture of all pay.

[Marine84]

WOW! That kinda ruffles my tail feathers.

[gkmoz]

Coming problems with DADT being abolished !
And this incident isn't even under DADT.
But if I recall correctly the libs on this site saying "things will go on just like before" FAIL !!!

[hbharrison]

And so it starts, what will be next??

[chulaivet1966]

Coming problems with DADT being abolished !
!!!

GOOOOOOD morning all....more mud is brewing here.

Given your comment above this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as I'm concerned.
Although there is nothing I'm more proud of being a part of and there is no camaraderie like that which we have as Marines I would not want to be in the Corps these days.

They even justify the behavior in the last two sentences.
I get ****ed off thinking about it all.

That's my take on it.....carry on....

[chulaivet1966]

And so it starts, what will be next??

Good question HBH, I feel sure I'll be agitated by it whatever it is.

Carry on...

[Old Marine]

GOOOOOOD morning all....more mud is brewing here.

Given your comment above this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as I'm concerned.
Although there is nothing I'm more proud of being a part of and there is no camaraderie like that which we have as Marines I would not want to be in the Corps these days.

They even justify the behavior in the last two sentences.
I get ****ed off thinking about it all.

That's my take on it.....carry on....

Could not have expressed my feelings any better.

[chulaivet1966]

Could not have expressed my feelings any better.

Brother OM....
After reading about this event I may have to upgrade from coffee to *coffee royals* this morning.
Belly up....I'm buying!

[Ed Palmer]

WOW! That kinda ruffles my tail feathers.

yeh like your feathers ain't ruffeled

[HST]

Can everyone see where this cluster **** is going? One of them is talking to CNN I can see the ACLU and every fag lover in fruit and nut land jumping in, followed by the gay federal judge that recently ruled against the same sex marriage ban which will be closely followed by the, gay/lez lovers in the administration and congress and right behind them, the Corps will quickly bail out.

[yanacek]

This is just going to be a case where the queers and queer lovers can claim they are being denied their rights to marry whatever they want. I'm sure the defense will be something like: "If the Marine Corps had allowed them to marry, they wouldn't have had to conspire to get the housing entitlements that traditionally married Marines are granted."

I'm sure the poser-in-chief will be one of the first to offer this as a defense.

[EGTSpec]

A sad commentary on the Marine Corps, and military in general. Next the Corps will have to allow fags to wear WM uniforms if they choose, and/or pay for sex change operations. I'm afraid the proud warrior personna of the Marine Corps Grunt is quickly fading. This touchy feelie, PC bullsh!t DADT repeal will turn the proudest branch of the armed forces into another Navy/Army/Air Farce "Village People" leaning sissified bunch of mambie pambie girlie boys.

[FaDeD]

They could have lived with me, i wouldn't have said anything... just saying

[micarr57]

so if i'd have married that wm so we could get baq and comrats that would have been ok?or would we got in trouble...good thing we both passed out

[SirRoundSound]

To be honest, I really don't even care about those Marines being homosexual. I'm more upset that they only went after them for being homosexual, and not for just defrauding the government out of BAH. Gay or not, nothing ****es me off more than when Marines marry for the sole purpose of collecting BAH, BAS, and just to get out of the barracks. It happens all the time, and I feel like it's one of the biggest, most unfair, most ignored problems in the Marine Corps today. What these Marines did was very wrong, yes, but I think it's high time the Marine Corps went after all the straight Marines who are getting married just to collect that extra money.

As a Lance Corporal living in the barracks, I take home just over $690 a paycheck, (I'll pause now for you salty old dogs to jump down to the quick reply so you can grumble about how back when you were a Lance in 1775, you only made $50 a month, uphill, both ways, in the snow, living in a squad bay made of plywood stuck together with chewed up MRE gum... moving on) which is about $1380 a month, give or take a few dollars. That's a lot more money than I would be making in any other job at my age with no skilled experience, but consider this:

If I were simply married, I would be given $1110 a month, tax free, to live off-base, and then another $330 a month, also tax-free. Add that to my $1380 to get $2820. Divide that total in half for two monthly paychecks, and it's $1410 a paycheck. $1410 a paycheck!!! A married Lance Corporal makes literally more in one paycheck than I do in an entire month of doing the same exact work under the same exact conditions. And I haven't even mentioned the intangible perks to being married, like not having to live with two other guys in a room the size of my kitchen back home, not having to field day, not being told I'm not allowed to have a hot plate, not having to field day, not having to deal with crappy food and service at the chow hall, not having to field day, being allowed to have as much beer and liquor as I want, not having to field day, having my own washer and dryer that actually work, and last but DEFINITELY not least, not having to field day.

And none of this is a secret. It boggles my mind to try and think of all of the Marines I personally know that went home on boot leave, snatched up the most willing gal they could find and plopped her in front of a judge to get a certificate of marriage printed off and that extra money rolling in.

Combine these tentative marriage conditions with unplanned pregnancies (do you really think someone dumb enough to get married on boot leave would be smart enough to wrap it up?), deployments, lack of life experience, and the overall nature of the beast we have come to call the Marine Corps, and you end up outright ****ed off that anyone is wondering why the divorce rate in the military is so high, or why the government spends so much on the defense budget.

What really bites about the whole thing is that of all these Marines who are getting married for the seemingly endless benefits the military readily hands over to them, I happen to be in a perfectly justified position to get married. I've been with the same girl for a little more than two years now, longer than a lot of married Marines have even known their wives, and we have a very happy relationship. We've never had any problems. We've both dated a lot of people, and we both feel like we share something very special and significant. We've even talked about what being married would be like a couple of times. Why don't I marry her? I feel like I'm too young. I'm only 20 and she's only 19, and I feel like I'm not old enough to make such a mature and important decision. That's the only reason. And everyone I talk to, especially my superiors, agree that by waiting to get married, I'm making a wise, mature, and responsible decision.

So how is my wisdom, maturity, and responsibility rewarded?

With field day, more barracks duty, longer work days, less pay, fewer benefits, blahblahblahblah. I even remember one time we were getting ready to PT after shift one day, and our Platoon Sergeant said straight-up, "If you're married and don't live in the barracks, you can go home." As if being married automatically means you have more important, grown-up things to do, and living in the barracks means that all you do all day is play Xbox and sip 40's; not go to college online or go to the gym to work out or anything like that. I could start a whole other thread listing all the ways married Marines are treated better.

And no one does anything to fix the problem. Hell, they don't even act like there is a problem. I mean, yeah, weeding out the Marines who are only married for the money and making it harder for Marines to stroll into IPAC with a marriage certificate and claim dependency benefits will take a whole heck of a lot more legislation and paper-pushing in Washington than this Marine wants to wrap his head around, but for a CO or First Sergeant to keep his Marines from going out in town and marrying the closest available meth-addict could be as easy as standing in front of the company on Thursday and saying "Hey, I know it's not really fair that LCpl Brownbagger got to go home to his filthy house to get sh*tfaced and smack his wife around, so I'm going to cut you guys a bit more slack. Also, I'll make sure the AC and the washers and dryers get fixed, and I'll see that all of the work requests for broken microwaves, fridges, and lights are seen to."

No, of course no one is going to do extra work just so the stupid barracks Marines don't make the decision that marrying a complete and total stranger is preferable to staying single and living in the damned barracks.

So the single Marine has two choices: Take a huge risk to their financial and emotional lives by getting married, or head over to the exchange, purche a straw, and suck it the hell up.