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Marine admits sabotaging parachutes
Edited for brevity.A Marine charged with cutting the lines of parachutes that were to be used in a training jump pleaded guilty Wednesday to assault and reckless endangerment. Lance Cpl. Antoine Boykins, 21, of Baltimore pleaded guilty to nine counts of reckless endangerment, four counts of aggravated assault and one count of destruction of government property. The judge, Col. Alvin Keller, told Boykins that he could face 31 years in prison, forfeiture of pay, reduction of rank and dishonorable discharge. The hearing was continuing Wednesday morning. Three Marines were injured Sept. 21, 2002, when their parachutes failed to open when they jumped from about 1,250 feet. Their reserve chutes deployed safely. Other jumps for that dayâs exercise were canceled, and investigators later found that 13 of the 22 parachutes had been sabotaged. At a hearing in March, a military prosecutor said Boykins and [other defendant] Ramirez cut parachute suspensionlines because they had been disciplined and were angry with their platoon commander. Wah, f*****g wah! Selfish weasels... Posted by: Dar 2003-08-06 |
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