Embassy Marine Demoted for Visiting Off-Limits Bar

Marine Sgt. Robert S. Stufflebeam was demoted from the rank of staff sergeant to sergeant Friday as punishment for his convictions on two misdemeanor counts of dereliction of duty.

A military jury, which convicted the former Moscow embassy guard Thursday evening, gave Stufflebeam no prison sentence after deliberating about 1 1/2 hours.

The court-martial judge, Marine Lt. Col. E. Dean Clark, had ruled earlier Friday that Stufflebeam be credited with 54 days on any sentence the jury recommended. The 54 days represents time spent by the Bloomington, Ill., native under arrest or restriction.

The prosecution had asked that Stufflebeam be reduced in rank to corporal, placed in the brig for 75 to 90 days and given a bad conduct discharge.

Stufflebeam, the former second-in-charge of the Marine guard detachment at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in 1985, was acquitted by the eight-man jury on seven counts of having sex with Soviet women and failing to report the fraternization.

The two dereliction-of-duty counts involved drinking while off duty at a Moscow bar that was off limits to Marines. Had he been found guilty of all nine charges, Stufflebeam could have faced a maximum 14-year sentence. The misdemeanor counts carried maximum six-month sentences.

Under Stufflebeam’s command were Sgt. Clayton J. Lonetree and Cpl. Arnold Bracy. Last month, Lonetree became the first Marine ever convicted of espionage. Bracy also was charged with spying for the Soviets but those charges were later dropped.

“This whole thing is pretty much a fabrication of the NIS (Naval Investigative Service),” Stufflebeam said after the verdict was read. “I feel very much relieved. There was no way for the government to prove their case.”