Marine Lance Corporal was caught up in the now infamous “To Catch a Predator” sting operation in Okinawa, Japan, after chatting with an undercover NCIS agent who was taking on the persona of a minor looking for sex with a Marine.
The Marine had a lengthy chat with the undercover officer and eventually agreed to meet the person he believed he was talking to for sex. When the Marine arrived at the bait house with condoms, gummy bears and alcohol, he was arrested. After being arrested, he was interrogated and fully confessed to the crime.
After being placed in pre-trial confinement and charged at a general court martial with attempted sexual assault of a minor, he was offered a pre-trial agreement that would cap his confinement at 60 months. Seeking a better pre-trial agreement, the Marine retained Timothy Bilecki, a noted Article 120 UCMJ sexual assault attorney in Okinawa, to represent him with the goal of obtaining a more favorable plea agreement. After investigating the case and determining that it was in our client’s best interest to mitigate the potential damages, Mr. Bilecki was able to negotiate a plea deal capping the confinement at 18 months and pleading to a lesser included offense. By retaining civilian defense counsel, this Marine saved 42 months off his sentence.
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