Marine Captain Receives One Month and No Dismissal After Plea to Nonsexual Offenses

Marine Captain Receives One Month and No Dismissal After Plea to Nonsexual Offenses

November 2024

Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay

Marine Captain – O-3

Allegations: UCMJ Article 92 Failure to Obey a Lawful Order; UCMJ Article 92 Dereliction of Duty; UCMJ Article 120c Indecent Exposure; UCMJ Article 133 Conduct Unbecoming an Officer; UCMJ Article 134 Indecent Conduct

Facts

A Marine Captain at MCB Hawaii faced an NCIS Article 120 sexual assault investigation arising from an outdoor encounter with a Japanese national near the Sunabe seawall in Chatan, Okinawa. Had the Article 120 sexual assault allegation proceeded to general court-martial, exposure on conviction would have run to years of confinement, possible Dismissal, federal felony record, and sex offender registration. His commission and Marine Corps career were at risk.

The Government's case was that on the night of the conduct, our client had left a downtown bar in violation of a deployed installation Liberty Order, encountered the alleged victim on the street, and engaged in sexual intercourse with her outdoors in a public place. Three U.S. military officers walking past saw the conduct and intervened. Okinawa Police Station took primary jurisdiction. The Japanese prosecutor's office declined to pursue charges. NCIS then assumed investigative lead, interrogated our client, and processed an apprehension package on the Article 120 sexual assault theory.

Our client retained Bilecki at the NCIS investigation stage, before any preferral.

The work was at the OSTC table, before any charges hit the case sheet.

We surfaced what the three U.S. military officers who walked past had actually described, the Japanese prosecutor's office's decline to charge, and the documentary record of the encounter to OSTC trial counsel Pacific. The Article 120 sexual assault theory the NCIS investigation had been built on was challenged by the third-party officer accounts. The Japanese decision was additional context for the submission. OSTC declined to prefer Article 120.

The negotiated alternative was a special court-martial referral on Articles 92 (the Liberty Order and a separate dereliction count), Article 120c indecent exposure, Article 133 conduct unbecoming an officer, and Article 134 indecent conduct. The plea agreement secured a fixed one-month confinement term, no forfeitures or fine, and a waiver of the Board of Inquiry. Article 120c was the not-guilty plea; the Government withdrew it per the Plea Agreement after acceptance of the remaining pleas.

At the special court-martial, our client pleaded guilty to the Article 92 specifications, Article 133, and Article 134. Article 120c was withdrawn and dismissed. The Article 120 sexual assault theory NCIS had built the investigation on was never preferred. The Captain received one month of confinement. No Dismissal. No forfeitures. No SORNA. No Board of Inquiry.

Result: Article 120 never preferred. SPCM plea on Articles 92, 133, 134. One month confinement. No dismissal. No SORNA. BOI waived.

---

FAQ

Q: What did Bilecki put before OSTC?
He focused on what the three officers had actually seen, alongside the investigative record and the Japanese prosecutor's decision not to charge. The Japanese decision did not bind the military. Bilecki used the witness accounts to address the sexual-assault theory on its merits. Article 120 sexual assault was never preferred.

Q: What remained in the negotiated court-martial?
Our client pleaded guilty to the order, dereliction, conduct-unbecoming and indecent-conduct offenses. The separate Article 120c indecent-exposure specification was withdrawn and dismissed. The agreement fixed confinement at one month and waived a Board of Inquiry. No dismissal was imposed at the special court-martial. A waiver of a board is not, by itself, a promise of continued service.