FORT BRAGG, NC — An Army general who carried on a three-year affair with a female captain and had two other inappropriate relationships with subordinates was reprimanded and docked $20,000 in pay Thursday, avoiding jail time in one of the military’s most closely watched courts-martial.
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair, the former deputy commander of the storied 82nd Airborne Division, was believed to be the highest-ranking US military officer ever court-martialed on sexual assault charges, but earlier this week those charges were dropped when he pleaded guilty to inappropriate relationships with the three women.
Sinclair smiled and hugged his two lawyers in the courtroom. Outside the building, he said “the system worked” and all he wanted to do now was “hug my wife and sons.”
As part of the plea deal, Sinclair’s sentence could not exceed terms in a sealed agreement between defense lawyers and military attorneys. The agreement, unsealed Thursday, called for Sinclair to serve no more than 18 months in jail, but the judge’s punishment was much lighter.