Tustin Marine Held in Brig on Gulf War Desertion Charge
The Marine Corps on Tuesday filed a charge of desertion against a corporal accused of failing to report to Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War, a military spokeswoman said.
Cpl. Darrell Lynn Spencer, 23, is being held in the Camp Pendleton brig on pretrial confinement pending a court-martial within 90 days, Capt. Besty Sweatt said late Tuesday.
Spencer, who had been stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin, was arrested in Stockton on Aug. 3, shortly after Stockton police received a call from the Marine Corps Desertion Office in Quantico, Va., which forwarded the warrant for his arrest.
Spencer enlisted in the Marines in January, 1987, and served with Helicopter Training Squadron 302 at Tustin until Feb. 1, when he was reported to have left the base at the same time his unit was deployed to Saudi Arabia.
The maximum penalty for conviction of desertion is three years’ confinement, reduction in rank to private, loss of all pay and a dishonorable discharge.
Spencer reportedly belongs to an extremist organization called New Nation USA, according to a tape-recorded statement he made that was released Sunday night by his fiancee, Jill Gutierrez of Stockton.
In the statement, Spencer said that the U.S. government no longer operates according to the Constitution.
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