O-4 sentenced to 60 days in adultery case [View All]

[unhappycamper]

O-4 sentenced to 60 days in adultery case
By Chris Amos - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday May 25, 2008 13:49:25 EDT

A Navy supply officer was sentenced Saturday to 60 days in jail and fined two months pay after a military jury found that she had a sexual relationship with a married lieutenant junior grade and lied about it to her superiors.

After deliberating for approximately two hours, five captains and three commanders found Lt. Cmdr. Syneeda Penland guilty of adultery, conduct unbecoming an officer, making a false official statement and failing to obey a lawful order.

Penland, 36, was taken to the brig immediately after her sentence was announced.

“It was very surprising to see an officer given jail time for purely military offenses,” her defense lawyer, Marine Capt. Patrick Callahan, said Sunday, adding that it was also unusual to see the case taken to a general court-martial, where a conviction is equivalent to a felony conviction in civilian courts. “These are things where if she was working at the local Sears, she would have been called into the office and yelled at, and at worse, fired.”

A Navy prosecutor did not return calls requesting comment on the case.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/05/navy_penland_052508/