US general escapes jail time, but gets sharp words from judge on adultery

On Thursday, US Army Brigadier General Jeffrey Sinclair did not come out of a court-martial unscathed even though he avoided jail time for mistreating a military officer during one of his extramarital affairs. Reuters said Sinclair was ordered by trial judge Colonel James Pohl to forfeit $20,000 in pay and was not dismissed from service for his military crimes. The 51 year-old has pleaded guilty to adultery and to having had inappropriate relationships with junior female officers, possession of pornography while on duty in Afghanistan, using his credit card to pay visits to his mistress and for using derogatory language that refer to female officers.

The news agency said Sinclair's case has drawn international attention amid a political scrutiny on the US military's attempts to reduce sexual misconduct incidents in the ranks.

Both Sinclair and his defense team expressed gratitude to the seemingly lighter sentence. Reuters said that the dismissal has ended a two-year battle that derailed the once promising career of the ex-deputy commander of the 82nd Airborne Division. Sinclair was said to have served five combat tours for the US military.

After a court hearing in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Sinclair was quoted as saying, "The system has worked. All I want to do now is hug my kids and be with my wife."

Lead defense attorney Richard Scheff said, "He's got new mountains to climb." Sinclair's legal team said their client has expressed his plans to retire early and that he could still get demoted during the process.

The female captain who has sought legal action against Sinclair has retained her claims that the general forcibly made her to perform fellatio on him following her attempt to break off the three-year affair. It was not known whether the captain, who is a military intelligence officer, faced administrative charges for carrying her affair with the general. Sinclair, on the other hand, maintained that the fellatio act was made up by the captain.

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Brigadier General Jeffrey Sinclair trial verdict, Colonel James Pohl, Richard Scheff

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