A military judge sentenced a Sitka Coast Guardsman to nine months confinement in the brig and kicked him out of the service on Saturday.
Petty Officer 2nd Class James Grover pleaded guilty at a court martial in Juneau to charges related to the possession of child pornography and making false official statements.
Under the terms of a plea deal, he’ll serve the time at the Northwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma. He was demoted to the lowest enlisted rank in the Coast Guard — that of seaman recruit — and given what’s called a “bad conduct discharge.” That level of dismissal is one step less severe than a dishonorable discharge.
Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow, a spokesman for the Coast Guard in Alaska, says Grover was taken into custody immediately following the court martial at the federal building in Juneau.
Ed Ronco is a reporter at KCAW in Sitka.
