Lieutenant Colonel Jacob Sweatland who heads up the ROTC department at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California was charged with resisting arrest, invasion of privacy by recording in a dressing room and two counts of filming a person in full or partial undress.
We don’t have all the details, but apparently the Army officer and chairperson of Calpoly’s ROTC Program is suspected of planting tiny cameras in dressing room(s) at the PacSun clothing store, then running home to get his jollies when teenagers and adult women would try on different clothing items.
If true, then Lieutenant Colonel Pervert is facing a maximum sentence of more than three years in a civilian prison. The military isn’t saying a word or doing a damn thing.
Even though the Army could convene a general court martial against LTC “Sweatgland,” and file charges unique to the military like conduct unbecoming an officer, they have chosen to remain stony silent.
In other words, it’s three years in a civilian prison, or 10+ years in Ft. Leavenworth, but only if you have a convening authority in the military ready to bring Lieutenant Colonel Sweatland to a court martial.
DIVERT THE PERVERT
LTC “Sweatgland” applied to the local district attorney for what is referred to as “misdemeanor military diversion,” in the hope of avoiding civilian criminal prosecution and clearing his record. The judge denied his request.
Military Diversion, established in January 2016, is a pretrial program for current or former members of the military charged with misdemeanor crimes. Definition of “diversion” is the act of diverting or turning aside, as from a course or purpose.
Another definition used in a military context is a feint intended to draw off attention from the point of main attack. This context may be more applicable in “Sweatgland’s” case. It’s a method where the good-ole-boys can divert attention away from the infraction of law to save the good name and reputation of that particular branch of the armed forces the perp was connected with. Fortunately, the district attorney and the judge did not fall for it.
A “Military Diversion” is a kind of get-out-of-jail card the offender can attempt to play to save his career in the military. It’s basically a plea bargain where the military or former military member admits to his misdemeanor offense and agrees to undergo counseling, community service, etc, etc.
A “military diversion” means “Sweatgland’s” penchant for watching little girls undress won’t show up on a background check when he retires from the military and applies for some cushy job in Washington. A Military Diversion allows for all charges down the road to be dropped and disappear.
The downside to a Military Diversion…
- The offender is forced to admit their crime to the prosecutor and sign a written confession
- Only the prosecutor can decide if the diversion contract was fulfilled.
- The diversion program often ends around 12 months, which might be considered as not enough time for the offender to fully “reform.”
The upside to a Military Diversion…
- There is no court martial
- There is no felony conviction… yes, what is a misdemeanor in the civilian world is a felony in the military world.
- He won’t have to potentially register as a sex offender for being a peeping tom.
- There is no adverse discharge (OTH-Other Than Honorable, BCD-Bad Conduct Discharge, or DD-Dishonorable Discharge
- The offender usually receives an Honorable Discharge opening the door for VA Benefits
- The offender can then say his time in the war zone gave him PTSD and he needs to be declared as 100% disabled
- The offender does not have to be confronted with a “bubba” behind bars who says, “so, you like to watch little girls do you?”
As we understand it, the teenager found the camera configured to appear as a key fob. When the teenager realized it was a camera and not a key fob, she realized someone was watching her undress, she went to the store manager who called the cops.
Cops, who had not yet been defunded, arrived and conjured up a plan to lure the perv into a trap. They called LTC “Sweatgland,” telling him his must have dropped his key fob in the dressing room and it was available for him to pick up.
The cops hid behind the panty rack and when the LTC arrived they jumped up to grab the creepy Army lieutenant colonel. When he saw the badges and guns, LTC “Sweatgland” who was once an Army Ranger, took off running for a five mile hike only to find police waiting for him at his house.
Police officers arrested Lt.Col. Jacob Sweatland on Sept. 2, 2022.
LTC “Sweatgland” was hoping his tours in Colombia, Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq would get him off the hook. His attorney argued that the 40-year-old Army Ranger and ROTC Chairperson suffers from mental health issues that led him to videotape the partially undressed teenager. Sure, that’s what we need, a mentally unstable Lieutenant Colonel showing young ROTC students how to fieldstrip an M-16 rifle.
LTC “Sweatgland” ran into a brick wall with the District Attorney of San Luis Obispo because it turns out the DA was a reserve Army officer who apparently felt the Military Conversion Program was just a little too soft for the perv lieutenant colonel.
San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Jesse Marino denied Sweatland’s request for military diversion recently and set a trial setting conference for May 8, 2023.
Shortly after his arrest, the Army decided it was bad optics and temporarily removed LTC “Sweatgland” from his post at Cal Poly, though he technically remains the department chair, said Nichole Downs, chief of public affairs for United States Army Cadet Command.
FINAL THOUGHTS…
Would you believe there are people right now serving long prison sentences in Ft. Leavenworth who have done far less than LTC “Sweatgland?” Our new WOKE Army does not have the will to get involved. After all, we now have Drag Queen Story Time for Children in our public school systems.
A real general in the Army would call the district attorney saying, “You do what you gotta do, and I will do what I’ve got to do. All I ask is that you send him in cuffs and leg irons to appear before a general court martial I will be convening.” Instead, everyone wrings their hands and says, “the poor man needs some counseling and community service.”
Our gut feeling is that this proclivity to watch little girls undress didn’t just start recently. We bet it’s been going on for quite sometime, but you’ll never hear about that because the United States Army does not want anyone to know they were aware of LTC “Sweatgland’s” desire to see little girls undress. God only know what other deviant practices the particular Army Ranger has indulged in overseas.
WE RECALL SOLICITOR DAN JOHNSON
Dan Johnson was the district attorney of Richland County, South Carolina, but they refer to their DAs on the East Coast as “Solicitors.”
He was also an Army JAG officer in the Air National Guard. During the week he would throw civilians in jail and on his reserve weekends, he would throw military personnel in jail.
Dan Johnson thought himself above the law and was secretly doing a double billing scheme making copies of his receipts and submitting the same receipts for reimbursement to both the Army and Richland County.
He got up to about $44,000 before they caught his hand in the cookie jar. The Army decided to defer to the federal prosecutors who reduced 50 charges down to three.
He spend less than a year in prison as long as he “cooperated,” but he apparently had nothing to tell because the Feds never arrested anyone else. It was all a ruse.
The Army decided to look the other way on the money he stole from them and bestowed an Honorable discharge on Major Dan Johnson.
When he got out of prison, he immediately applied for PTSD and the VA declared him 100% disabled. All he had to do was feign an illness and be seen in a wheelchair going into the Dorn VA Medical Center.
He was disbarred, but that too was a ruse because the left the door open for him to reapply for his law license. Basically, he received little or not punishment for stealing a chunk-o-change from the military and the civilians.
The talking heads on the news bitterly complain about two tiers of justice, when the military has and a multi-justice system going back to George Washington. Equal Justice in the United States Military simply is a farce.
When the admirals and generals are allowed to retire to avoid prosecution or even an investigation, Equal Justice Under Law does not exist. It’s a joke.
And tell us again why you are thinking about going in the military? Tell us again, why you are thinking about staying in the military?
CORRECTION AND CLARIFICATION TO OUR ARTICLE:
Someone close to the district attorney’s office we consider an unimpeachable source sent us the following clarification…
MilitaryCorruption.com’s description of military diversion is not accurate… LTC Sweatland does not have to admit guilt, and the prosecutor can object, but it is exclusively a Judges program, not the DA… you may have accidentally been describing another states military diversion program. Here is a link to a good description that is accurate:
https://www.egattorneys.com/military-diversion-program-in-california
Please note:
As stated, unlike other diversion programs in California, military diversion doesn’t require a plea of guilty or no contest for a veteran to take advantage of this program.
The San Luis Obispo (SLO) DA’s office supports veterans court when they truly have military service connected ptsd that caused addiction and other ptsd related crimes… but the SLO-DA’s office does not support granting a pass to those in positions of responsibility and trust for their serious criminal conduct that harms others.
The San Luis Obispo District Attorney strongly objected to this defendant obtaining military diversion. Sadly, the Judge seemed to indicate that he is likely to grant a more generic form of diversion… that if granted will be just as soft as the military diversion…
see: https://www.lnlegal.com/blog/2021/june/ab-3234-california-s-new-misdemeanor-diversion-l/
As always, if there are mistakes in our reporting, then contact us immediately. We thank our source for this clarification. We have no interest in reporting anything that is not accurate and truthful. We freely admit we got a bit creative describing the cops hiding behind the panty rack, but you get the gist of the situation.
