Marine Gets 6 Months in Gondola Case

Capt. Richard Ashby was sentenced Monday to six months in a military prison and ordered out of the Marine Corps for obstructing justice and conspiring to hide and help destroy a videotape made during the flight last year in which the jet he piloted cut a ski gondola cable, killing 20 people.

The 32-year-old Ashby immediately asked a supervising general to reverse the sentence, or at least delay the punishment, because the jet’s co-pilot--who actually destroyed the tape--was only discharged from the service.

Ashby, of Mission Viejo, Calif., was acquitted in March of 20 counts of manslaughter in the cable car tragedy, which continues to strain relations between the United States and some European countries. But he was convicted last week of secreting the video out of the cockpit of his EA-6B Prowler jet and giving it to Capt. Joseph Schweitzer, who then tossed the tape on top of a bonfire.

The six-month sentence for Ashby, who was tops in his flight squad and had just been promoted to flying more prestigious fighter jets when the accident occurred on a training mission, calls for him to be dishonorably discharged upon completing his prison term. He is not to receive any military pay while serving his time.

Ashby’s sentence was delivered by a jury of seven Marine Corps officers. The jurors deliberated for about two hours Monday after hearing closing arguments from attorneys on what would be the appropriate penalty for Ashby.

“He needs to pay the price for his criminal conduct,” Maj. Stu Couch, one of the prosecutors, told the jury. “Capt. Ashby needs to feel the sting for what he has done. He doesn’t deserve to wear a uniform.”

But defense lawyers cited Ashby’s exemplary military career before the accident, and urged leniency for him. Capt. Jon Shelburne said the stigma of being found guilty of charges related to the accident is harsh enough.

“That message is out there loud and clear,” Shelburne told the jurors. “Punishment on top of [last week’s verdict] isn’t going to make that message any more loud and clear.”

Ashby faced as much as 10 years in prison. The eight-year Marine veteran did not comment after the sentencing, and Marine Corps officials said that because he is now a sentenced prisoner, he “no longer has the right to speak” publicly about the matter.

But his civilian attorney, Frank Spinner, said he is appealing the sentence to Lt. Gen. Peter Pace, commander of the Marine Corps forces in the Atlantic region.

Pace can decrease, but not increase, the punishment, and Spinner said he would argue that it is “inconceivable” that Ashby should spend time behind bars while Schweitzer, who pleaded guilty to destroying the tape, was merely discharged.

The jet Ashby piloted sliced through the gondola cable in February 1998 in the Italian Alps, plunging the cable car’s passengers nearly 400 feet to their deaths. In his first trial, Ashby was cleared of manslaughter for flying too fast and too low.

Evidence in Ashby’s second trial established that Schweitzer, 31, of Westbury, N.Y., filmed portions of the flight before the accident. Afterward, Ashby sneaked the tape into his pocket and replaced it with a blank video.

Ashby acknowledged in trial testimony that he was wrong not to give the tape to authorities, but added, “I don’t think taking a personal videotape is a crime.”