Does his plea deal include waiving his right to appeal as long as he isn’t dismissed or kicked out?
Brig. Gen. Jeffery Sinclair formally pleaded guilty Monday to maltreating a subordinate under his command, telling a military judge in halting voice that he deceived her during their illicit three-year affair and caused her “emotional distress.’’
Sinclair, one of only a handful of generals to face a court-martial in the past 60 years, also pleaded guilty to twice misusing his government charge card to pursue the affair, disobeying an order not to contact his mistress, and making derogatory comments about other female officers. The military judge, Col. James L. Pohl, accepted the pleas.
As part of a plea deal signed over the weekend, the Army has agreed to drop more serious charges of sexual assault; threatening to kill the captain with whom he carried out the affair, and her family; and engaging in “open and notorious’’ sex in a parked car and on a hotel balcony.
“I failed her as a leader and a mentor, and caused harm to her emotional state,’’ Sinclair told the judge, referring to a 34-year-old captain who reported to him while the two were engaged in a torrid, adulterous affair. “I put her under emotional distress because I misled her.’’