Marine Officer Who Criticized US Military Officials Over Afghanistan Withdrawal to Plead Guilty as Part of Plea Deal

Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller in a file photograph. U.S. Marine Corps

A Marine Officer who faces trial by court-martial on Oct. 14 for criticizing senior military officials over the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan is set to plead guilty to several charges, his lawyers said.

Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller has been charged with contempt toward officials, disrespect toward superior commissioned officers, willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer, dereliction in the performance of duties, failure to obey an order or regulation, and conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.

Scheller will allegedly plead guilty to some charges in the hopes of avoiding a prison sentence and secure instead either an honorable discharge or a general discharge under honorable conditions.

The possibility of such a plea deal was first reported by Coffee or Die Magazine.

“Our hope is for him to get a letter of reprimand, and no more,” Tim Parlatore, one of Scheller’s attorneys, told The Washington Post.

Scheller was placed in confinement at the Regional Brig for Marine Corps Installations East at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, on Sept. 27.

Two days later, a number of Republican lawmakers wrote a letter to Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger, requesting an expedited review and removal of Scheller from pretrial confinement.

“Given his excellent record and more than 15 years of dedicated service, we do not believe and have seen no evidence that LTC Sheller poses a grave risk of criminal misconduct,” lawmakers wrote in their letter.

The Marine was released from confinement on Oct. 5, as part of a mutual agreement between Lt. Col. Scheller, his Defense counsel, and the Commanding General, Training Command, Captain Sam Stephenson, Training and Education Command, spokesperson confirmed.

Scheller gained viral fame back in August when he posted a video on social media alleging that top military leaders were not taking responsibility for how the military withdrawal from Afghanistan was handled, including the ISIS terrorist attack that left 13 service members dead in Kabul.