Special court-martial convictions

Compiled by Staff Sgt. Bobbie Lynn Sherman
Military Justice Paralegal

Airman 1st Class Joshua L. Pruitt, 723rd Air Mobility Squadron, was tried in a
special court-martial July 22 by a military judge and found guilty of the following
offenses:  one charge and specification for failure to go, in violation of Article 86, Uniform Code of Military Justice; one charge and five specifications of wrongful use of marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine and wrongful distribution of ecstasy and cocaine, in violation of Article 112a, UCMJ; and one charge and two specifications for procuring a prostitute and obstructing justice, in violation of Article 134, UCMJ.  Airman Pruitt was sentenced to reduction to E-1, confinement for one year and a bad conduct discharge.

Airman 1st Class Cody T. Barrett, 723rd Air Mobility Squadron, was tried in a special court-martial July 25 by a military judge and found guilty of the following offenses: one charge and specification for failure to go on diverse occasions, in violation of Article 86, UCMJ; one charge and three specifications of wrongful use of marijuana, ecstasy and cocaine, in violation of Article 112a, UCMJ; and one charge and one specification for procuring a prostitute, in violation of Article 134, UCMJ.  Airman Barrett was sentenced to reduction to E-1, confinement for five months and a bad conduct discharge.

Both members were part of a group of Airmen who used the drugs at an off-base residence prior to traveling to Frankfurt, where they each paid a prostitute for sexual intercourse. Although prostitution is legal here in Germany, Article 134, UCMJ, specifically makes patronizing a prostitute a criminal offense for all U.S. servicemembers.  Ignorance of this important distinction is not a defense to the crime of patronizing a prostitute.