A Baltimore judge Wednesday admonished two soldiers for discharging a gun after an altercation outside a city nightclub, but said their time is better served in Iraq than behind bars.
Pfc. Denario Wesson and Spc. Joshua Johnson pleaded guilty to misdemeanor handgun violations, but Circuit Judge Sylvester Cox agreed to delay signing a probation order until they return from 15-month tours in Iraq, where they will head Tuesday.
But Cox had sharp words for Wesson, who said he fired two rounds in the air to ward off a threatening crowd after a confrontation in a Cherry Hill club March 19.
“The city of Baltimore is not Iraq,” Cox said. “That projectile has no name on it. We don?t know where those two bullets ended up. We are fortunate they did not end up in a citizen of Baltimore City.”
The case drew media attention when defense attorney Arthur Frank, an unsuccessful judicial candidate, vocally criticized Baltimore City?s State?s Attorney Patricia Jessamy for refusing to postpone the case until after Johnson, 24, and Wesson, 19, returned from Iraq. Their unit, based in Fort Hood, Texas, has already departed. By delaying the men?s deployment, Frank accused Jessamy of hindering the U.S. war effort.
On Wednesday, Frank ? who said the men could have shot at the crowd and argued self-defense ? said Jessamy?s office “ultimately did the right thing.”
“Once they decided to move forward with this, the state?s attorney?s office really bent over backwards to resolve this case today,” Frank said.
Prosecutors recommended six-month sentences in the unusual agreement, which allowed them to clinch a guilty verdict without jeopardizing the pair?s military service. Cox can wait until their return to sign the two-year probation before judgment order, or Frank can petition for expungement if their records stay clean, he said.
Both men were ordered to forfeit their guns, a top priority for prosecutors, and state?s attorney spokesman Joe Sviatko said the office will continue to prosecute gun crimes “without partiality.”
Johnson and Wesson said they are looking forward to their first tours of duty.
“They?ve just been waiting and waiting for us to come join them,” Johnson said of their unit.
