A Hawaii-based Marine lance corporal accused of hazing in Afghanistan is going to jail for 30 days and will have his rank reduced to private first class for punching and kicking a fellow Marine who killed himself shortly afterward.
Navy Capt. Carrie Stephens, the judge in Lance Cpl. Jacob Jacoby’s special court-martial, handed down the sentence after Jacoby, 21, pleaded guilty to assault.
The Marine admitted he punched and kicked Lance Cpl. Harry Lew of Santa Clara, Calif. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors withdrew charges that Jacoby humiliated and threatened Lew.
Stephens said she found no evidence that Jacoby’s abuse of Lew caused Lew to kill himself, and she didn’t take the suicide into account when determining the sentence.
Two other Marines have also been accused of hazing Lew and face courts-martial.
Jacoby said he acted out of anger and frustration that his fellow Marine had repeatedly fallen asleep while on watch for Taliban fighters.
He told the court he wanted to talk to Lew, to find out why he kept falling asleep, and to help him stay awake. But Jacoby said he got angry when Lew spoke to him in a disrespectful manner, even though Lew was putting the lives of the Marines at their patrol base in danger by dozing off.
Before sentencing, Jacoby said he was sorry and that he wanted to take responsibility for his actions.
“I allowed my emotions and frustrations to get the best of me, and acted out against a fellow Marine,” Jacoby said.
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Two other Marines also are accused of hazing Lew before he shot himself with his machine gun in his foxhole. Sgt. Benjamin Johns, the leader of the squad the Marines belonged to, and Lance Cpl. Carlos Orozco III will have their own separate courts-martial later ....
