An Army Staff Sergeant was drinking off base in the Yoshihara district of Okinawa with another NCO at a “juicy bar” after curfew. The two NCOs were having a great time, joking about finding their future ex-wives, and in the process, they ran up a bill of over $600. When they received the bill, they couldn’t believe how much the beer and juice cost and disputed the bill with the bar owner, who didn’t budge.
The Staff Sergeant apparently gave some cash to his battle buddy, who was supposed to pay for the bill on his credit card. It turns out that the bill wasn’t paid, and the Japanese Police were called. The two Soldiers were arrested by the Japanese police for failure to pay the bill. The NCOs were released by the Japanese Police, paid the bill, and were then turned over to their command.
An AR 15-6 investigation was initiated, and the Staff Sergeant retained civilian defense counsel Tim Bilecki to represent him. We worked with the investigating officer and attempted to show that the Staff Sergeant had given money to his battle buddy to cover his portion of the bill and that his fellow Soldier was supposed to pay it on the credit card. However, the command seemed less interested in that and more concerned that they were out past curfew in a bar that was allegedly known for prostitution. The AR 15-6 investigation was substantiated, and both Soldiers were given a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand (GOMOR). We drafted rebuttal matters, but the GOMOR was still permanently filed.
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