Former Marine recruiter receives the maximum sentence on sex convictions
Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, August 31, 2008

A military judge ripped into a former Marine Corps recruiter Thursday, minutes after handing him the maximum sentence on charges that he had sex with young female recruits, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Friday.

Staff Sgt. Timothy J. Hall, 31, pleaded guilty to charges of fraternization, obstructing justice and violating an order during his court-martial at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, the Union-Tribune wrote.

The judge, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Meeks, also found Hall guilty of adultery after a lance corporal at Camp Pendleton testified that he forced her to have sex with him last year on the floor of a recruiting office in Oshkosh, Wis., according to the report.

Sexual relationships between servicemembers of differing ranks, even consensual, are forbidden under regulations, the paper noted.

Hall was tried in San Diego because the regional recruiting command, which includes Wisconsin, is based there.

Meeks sentenced Hall to one year in prison, demotion and a bad-conduct discharge, the Union-Tribune reported. Because of a plea agreement, the prison term is limited to four months.

According to the Union-Tribune reporter, Hall apologized to the Corps, his wife and their four children, though he didn’t include his victims.

An enraged Meeks accused Hall of shaming his uniform and ordered Hall out of the courtroom and offered his own apology to the lance corporal, the paper reported.

"I am sorry about what happened to you. This is not what the Marine Corps is all about."

Ellie