GI Who Fled to Soviet Union With Girlfriend Guilty of Being AWOL

An Army private who fled last year to the Soviet Union with his pregnant West German girlfriend was convicted Thursday of being absent without leave, but he avoided conviction on the more serious charge of desertion.

“I feel great,” Pfc. Wade E. Roberts said as he left the courtroom with Petra Neumann, whom he married during his eight-month stay in the Soviet Union.

The presiding judge, Col. Earl Pauley, gave the serviceman from San Bernardino, Calif., a bad conduct discharge and ordered him released from custody after the 1 1/2-day court-martial.

Picked Up Belongings

Roberts, 22, returned to the Philadelphia Naval Yard brig, where he had been held for the past three months, to pick up his belongings and went to an undisclosed location, officials said.

Pauley’s verdict was a blow to the military, which pressed for a conviction on a charge of desertion terminated by apprehension. That offense carries a maximum penalty of a dishonorable discharge and three years in prison.

Roberts had been described by a superior as “the most reprehensible, casual soldier” in his command. But defense attorneys said Roberts was confused and harassed, and was not cut out for the Army.

Courtroom spectators, mostly military personnel, gasped when Pauley rendered his decision.

“I’m shocked,” said Capt. Daniel Shaver, the chief military attorney. He said the Army expected Roberts to be sentenced to the maximum AWOL penalty of a dishonorable discharge and one year of imprisonment at hard labor.

Had to Prove Intent

In order to prove desertion, military attorneys had to demonstrate that when Roberts left his base at Giessen, West Germany, last Feb. 28, he never intended to return to the Army.

Roberts testified that he and his wife became disenchanted with Soviet life, and feared that if their son was born in the Soviet Union he would be automatically granted Soviet citizenship, making it difficult for them to leave.

“I wanted to get out of the country,” Roberts said. “We didn’t like it.”