Civilian defense counsel Tim Bilecki was retained after a Marine Sergeant was charged in a general court martial with multiple violations of Article 121, UCMJ (larceny and BAH fraud), as well as Article 107, UCMJ (false official statement). The central issue revolved around whether our client’s spouse resided in New York during the timeframe of the charges.
Initially, when our client PCS’d to Okinawa, his spouse was living in New York, but their marriage was unraveling, leading her to move to North Carolina without informing him. Despite her relocation, our client continued to receive BAH based on the New York rate, which is higher than North Carolina’s, leading to the larceny charge. However, he was unaware of her move and thus had no criminal intent to defraud.
Our client’s spouse, being a key witness, needed to confirm that she initially lived in New York but moved to North Carolina without informing her husband. Tim Bilecki traveled to North Carolina Coast to take her deposition and gather other relevant information.
After the deposition, Bilecki flew to Okinawa, Japan, to try the case in front of a military panel. Following several days of trial, the jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty on all charges and specifications.
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