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Attorney Frank Rosenblatt said, said Military.com In an emailed statement King plans to plead guilty to five of the 14 charges he faces under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. One of the five charges he will plead guilty to is desertion, he said.
King, who was stationed in South Korea, attracted international attention when he left a tour group and raced across the DMZ into North Korea in July 2023, where he was briefly detained. King is scheduled to be formally arraigned at a hearing on Sept. 20, where “he will explain his conduct, answer the military judge’s questions about why he is pleading guilty and receive sentence,” Rosenblatt said.
The plea deal began about a month ago.It postponed what would have been the first court hearing in King’s case, an Article 32 hearing, similar to a grand jury hearing for civilians.
King is being held at the Otero County Jail in New Mexico. Fort BlissA facility used by Texas prisons for pretrial detainees.
The private was facing a variety of charges, including desertion, child pornography, insubordination, false official documents and assault, some of which stemmed from his choice to flee to North Korea. King had a long history of legal troubles that began more than a year before he slipped through one of the most heavily guarded borders in the world.
Rosenblatt also pleaded guilty to escape. Military.com In a separate conversation, King said he plans to plead guilty to three counts of insubordination to a superior officer and one count of assaulting a non-commissioned officer.
“Travis is grateful to his friends and family for their support and to all those around him who did not prejudice his case based on initial suspicions,” Rosenblatt said.
Michelle McCaskill, a spokeswoman for the Army’s Office of Special Counsel, confirmed that a plea deal had been negotiated but stressed that “the guilty plea is contingent on acceptance by a military judge.”
“If Pvt. King’s guilty plea is accepted, the judge will sentence King. … If the judge does not accept the guilty plea, the judge can order the case to be tried in a contentious court-martial,” McCaskill added in an email. Military.com on monday.
Jonathan Franks, a spokesman for King’s family, declined to comment “out of respect for Army procedures.”
King’s ordeal began when a series of arrests by South Korean authorities led the Army to order the young soldier sent back to the United States for disciplinary action. But King never got on the plane, instead taking a private tour of the border village of Panmunjom, a major tourist destination along the DMZ. He canceled the tour and They invaded North Korea on July 18th.2023.
In September, North Korea suddenly announced it was releasing King into U.S. custody.
After King returned to the United States, Rosenblatt said, In a social media post Last month, the soldier announced he had “spent three weeks debriefing and reintegrating into society.” Joint Base San Antonio“
Following her son’s return to the U.S., King’s mother, Claudine Gates, said she loved her son “unconditionally” and was “deeply concerned about his mental health,” according to a statement previously provided by Franks.
Since his family was thrust into the spotlight, Gates has asserted that “something has happened.” [King] During the time I was deployed.”
Franks said. Military.com last year “The fall of ’22 was a time of mounting problems” and “everything went to hell,” a person with ties to King’s family said, roughly coinciding with a period of deep emotion following the death of King’s young cousin.
King’s legal team includes Rosenblatt, a former Army lawyer and lead military defense attorney for Bowe Bergdahl & Co., as well as Sherilyn Vann, a civilian attorney from El Paso who King’s firm’s website describes as having “extensive experience at Fort Bliss” and two military lawyers.