Posted on Thu, Feb. 01, 2007

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Guard considers penalties

Courts-martial possible for recruiters in Ware Shoals sex case

By SUSANNE M. SCHAFER

The Associated Press

A National Guard officer will soon decide whether two military recruiters will be court-martialed over accusations that one had sex with a high school student and the other with a cheerleading coach, the Guard’s top attorney said Wednesday.

The investigation into the actions of Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Fletcher and Sgt. Jeremy Pileggi was completed this week and forwarded to the Guard’s chief of staff, said Lt. Col. Thomas Eppink, the Guard’s acting judge advocate general.

“There is a continuum of action that can be taken — ranging from no action at all to a court-martial,” Eppink told The Associated Press.

The soldiers could not immediately be reached for comment.

They were suspended from their recruiting duties after the arrests of Ware Shoals High School cheerleading coach Jill Moore and principal Jane Blackwell in January.

Moore, a married mother of two, was having an affair with Fletcher, 29, and took two cheerleaders to meet Pileggi at a motel, according to Sheriff’s Office reports. Pileggi, 21, acknowledged having sex with a 16-year-old cheerleader last year, and one of the cheerleaders said she watched Moore and Fletcher have sex, according to the reports.

Moore, who also was a guidance clerk, resigned after being charged with supplying alcohol and cigarettes to students and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Moore also is accused of having sex with a male student on a different occasion, according to sheriff’s office reports.

Blackwell, who was suspended from her job, is accused of ordering cheerleaders not to talk to authorities.

Both Blackwell and Moore have maintained their innocence.

Eppink said it will be up to Chief of Staff Col. Ron Huff to determine whether there is enough evidence for courts-martial or other disciplinary procedures.

Although the Army National Guard soldiers were not charged criminally by police, they could face a wide range of punishment under the military code of justice, Eppink said, adding Huff is expected to act “within days.”

Punishments could range from a reduction to the lowest grade of rank to bad conduct discharges and confinement, Eppink said.

Last year, Moore told two cheerleaders she was taking them to visit a prospective college, the sheriff’s reports said. Instead, they went to a motel where she met Fletcher in one room, and gave the cheerleaders vodka and put them in a room with Pileggi, according to the reports.

Although suspended from recruiting duties, the soldiers were given administrative duties and continue to receive pay, said Guard spokesman Col. Pete Brooks.