United States v. Cantrell

44 M.J. 711, 1996 WL 492404
CourtUnited States Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals
DecidedAugust 16, 1996
DocketACM 31739
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 44 M.J. 711 (United States v. Cantrell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Cantrell, 44 M.J. 711, 1996 WL 492404 (afcca 1996).

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT

HEIMBURG, Senior Judge:

Pursuant to a pretrial plea agreement, the appellant pled guilty to fraudulently enlisting in the Army on 26 March 1991 and in the Air Force on 22 April 1993; deserting from the Army on 17 July 1992 and from the Air Force on 25 August 1994; making a false official statement while applying for enlistment in the Air Force; and false swearing in a statement to an Army investigator. Articles 83, 85, 107 and 134, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. §§ 883, 885, 907 and 934 (1988). He also pled guilty to stealing $353.64 by passing a worthless check; wrongfully appropriating more than $100.00 from a credit card issuing institution; uttering a forged stolen check in the amount of $375.00; and making and uttering seven worthless checks to the Army and Air Force Exchange Service in the total amount of $1147.14, which were drawn on an account created by deposit of the forged check. Articles 121, 123, and 123a, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. §§ 921, 923, and 923a (1988). His approved sentence is a dishonorable discharge, confinement for 15 years, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and reduction to E-l. The appellant asserts that his sentence is inappropriately severe because the term of confinement is excessive for his offenses. He also argues the military judge committed plain error by permitting the trial counsel to argue improperly that his prior, uncharged misconduct justified a lengthy term of confinement; the Air Force convening authority lacked jurisdiction over the offenses he committed while in the Army; and the false official statement was a lesser included offense of the fraudulent enlistment in the Air Force. We find none of the appellant’s arguments persuasive, and affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

In early 1991 the appellant, looking for a new identity because of his criminal past, was reading the newspaper. He came across a wedding announcement and decided to take the identity of the groom, Mark Mitchell Hays. He proceeded to obtain not only the name, but the social security number, college transcript, and related family and background information of Mr. Hays. Then, on 26 March 1991, the appellant enlisted in the U.S. Army as Mark Mitchell Hays. Because of his purported college degree, the appellant received a $5,000.00 “bonus” from the Army upon enlistment and entered in the pay grade E-4. In fact, the appellant was not a college graduate. After basic training, the appellant was assigned to Fort Polk, Louisiana.

[713]*713By early 1992, the appellant’s assumption of Mr. Hays’ name and identity became a problem for Mr. Hays and his -wife when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) mailed them a bill for more than $3,000.00 in unpaid taxes. This bill was based on the fact that both the real Mr. Hays and the appellant had filed 1991 tax returns using the same social security number. Mr. and Mrs. Hays testified that the IRS did not believe their story that the second income was not theirs, and they had to prove their innocence by locating the second “Mr. Hays.” Eventually, they reached Fort Polk and persuaded Army investigators to pursue the matter. When called in by investigative agents in July 1992, however, the appellant subscribed a sworn statement in which he falsely maintained that he was the real Mark Mitchell Hays. He told agents he had never been in trouble with the law except for a speeding ticket, and steadfastly maintained that all the personal information that he had appropriated about Mr. Hays was his own.

In fact, the appellant was no stranger to the Army. Born David Alan Snyder, and adopted as David Alan Black, he had joined the Army on 18 February 1981, using the name and social security number of a high school friend, Scott Griffith Burdine. He used this false name because, even in early 1981, his criminal record (three felonies and a misdemeanor in Texas) would have prevented his lawful enlistment. During the summer after he enlisted in the Army, the appellant absented himself without leave. While absent without leave (AWOL) in the civilian community, the appellant passed a number of worthless checks and was arrested. Civilian authorities convicted him of several bad check offenses and obstruction of a police officer and returned him to the Army, which tried him by special court-martial for AWOL and fraudulent enlistment. He pled guilty and was sentenced to a bad-conduct discharge, confinement for 4 months, forfeiture of $300.00 pay per month for 6 months, and reduction to the lowest enlisted grade, E-l. That conviction and sentence were eventually affirmed.

After an interval in which the appellant garnered more felony convictions in Texas for worthless check offenses and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, the appellant decided to try the Army again. He enlisted in the Army in 1984 using the name and social security number of Michael Eugene Christopher, a graduate of the University of Texas. After an uneventful enlistment, he was medically discharged in mid-1986 because of an ankle injury. However, the appellant continued to live as Michael Eugene Christopher. He was convicted under that name of carrying a concealed weapon in Ohio, of driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUI) in West Virginia, and of DUI and resisting arrest in Texas. The appellant violated his Ohio probation, which was suspended. In stipulated testimony, the real Mr. Christopher, a Houston, Texas, businessman, said he has twice been stopped by police and detained, in 1992 and 1994, because of outstanding warrants issued against the appellant, but in his name.

Shortly after making his false statement to Army investigators — that he was the real “Mr. Hays” — the appellant deserted the Army on 17 July 1992. As the appellant left Fort Polk, he stole a blank check from his roommate’s checkbook. Using the blank check, the appellant wrote a cheek to himself (“Mark M. Hays”) for $375.00, which he deposited at the Fort Hood National Bank to create a new account. With this new account, the appellant passed seven worthless checks at the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, totalling $1147.14.

Apparently he decided that the name Mark Mitchell Hays had outlived its usefulness, so the appellant went into the Texas State Library, Austin, and picked a new identity. This time he chose the identity of Michael Vinson Cantrell, who was born on 25 May 1965 and died in an automobile accident with his mother 3 months later. The appellant obtained Michael Vinson Cantrell’s birth certificate and, using it, went about gathering sufficient documentation to “become” Michael Vinson Cantrell. He prepared a fraudulent college transcript in the name Michael Vinson Cantrell from a college he picked because of its remote location and small size.

Using his new identity documents and the fake transcript, the appellant enlisted in the [714]*714Air Force on 22 April 1993 as Michael Vinson Cantrell.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Hamdan
801 F. Supp. 2d 1247 (Military Commission Review, 2011)
United States v. Private First Class DONALD E. SCHEUERMAN
67 M.J. 709 (Army Court of Criminal Appeals, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
44 M.J. 711, 1996 WL 492404, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-cantrell-afcca-1996.