Marines Agree to Drop All Proceedings Against El Toro Sergeant in Drug Case

The Marine Corps agreed Friday to drop all disciplinary proceedings against an El Toro sergeant who tested positive for marijuana in a surprise drug test last year, allowing him to leave the service without the stigma of being labeled a drug abuser.

In return, Sgt. Michael Jordan will drop his federal lawsuit against the Marines.

The move came at the urging of U.S. District Judge J. Spencer Letts, who warned Marine Corps attorneys that he was leaning toward ruling in favor of Jordan in his lawsuit if a quick settlement was not reached.

Earlier this month, Letts issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the Marines from following through with efforts to muster Jordan out of the service with a less-than-honorable discharge.

Agreed to Drop Charges

In a hearing in federal court Friday in Santa Ana, attorneys for the Marines agreed to drop all charges against Jordan and allow him to end his 10-year military career on March 18, the day he once was due to re-enlist. At that point, Jordan will receive either an honorable discharge or a general discharge under honorable circumstances.

Letts said it appeared that the Marine Corps wanted to “put a brand on him after he leaves” and that the corps seemed anxious to discharge Jordan “not because of his drug use . . . but because he wants to prove his innocence.”

The judge said he was concerned that the stigma of drug use “not tail him (Jordan) into private, civilian life.”

The Marines began disciplinary proceedings against Jordan based on one urine test that proved positive for marijuana last June. Jordan, 30, contended that the drug test was in error and noted that he had passed three follow-up tests within six days of the first.

Marine Corps spokesmen said it was routine for the service to discharge sergeants and officers after only one positive drug test, even if follow-up tests appeared to contradict the first.

Sought Court-Martial

In his lawsuit, Jordan sought to force the Marines to give him a special court-martial, during which he would have the right to a lawyer and to cross-examine witnesses before a three-officer tribunal. Instead, the Marine Corps sent Jordan to an administrative discharge hearing, at which he had a right to a lawyer but not to cross-examine witnesses.

The potential penalties are harsher under a court-martial, but Jordan said he wanted the opportunity to prove that the urine test was in error.

An aviation maintenance supervisor at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, Jordan claimed that he was singled out for retribution after he decided to fight the drug abuse charges.

Although pleased to be rid of the stigma of drugs, Jordan, who had said earlier he wanted to make a career of the Marine Corps, said Friday that “the principle of the case was never really resolved. I wanted to prove beyond a doubt that I am innocent. They wouldn’t let me do that.”

“They didn’t destroy my dedication, but confidence in a lot of Marine Corps officers is diminished,” he said. “I just wanted to clear my name, and I felt I wasn’t really given a chance to do that.”

“It ends up a tie,” said Kevin McDermott, Jordan’s attorney. “They are acting as if this never happened, that his urine never turned positive, rather than risk the wrath of an adverse decision.”

Assistant U.S. Atty. Marcus Kerner, who represented the Marine Corps, said he saw the settlement “as fair, but I’d like to underscore that drug abuse is totally incompatible with military and civilian life.”

For all practical purposes, Jordan’s decade-long military career ended with Friday’s decision. He is on leave and is not scheduled to return until the day before his enlistment expires.

“Right now I guess I have some thinking to do,” he said. “I guess I’ll start sending my resumes out, start looking for something in aircraft maintenance (which is) what I’ve been doing.”