RAF LAKENHEATH, England — Two more 48th Security Forces Squadron airmen were convicted for drug use or distribution after a six-month investigation of 27 48th Fighter Wing airmen suspected of using or selling marijuana, Ecstasy, hashish or cocaine. Senior Airman Marks Horton and Airman 1st Class Thomas Kleitz both pleaded guilty to three specifications of wrongful use of a controlled substance, according to a 48th Fighter Wing news release.
Horton was sentenced to two months’ confinement, reduction to airman basic and a bad-conduct discharge for using and possessing marijuana, hashish and Ecstasy.
Kleitz was sentenced to 3½ months confinement, reduction to airman basic and a bad-conduct discharge for using, possessing and distributing Ecstasy.
Both will serve their confinement at the RAF Lakenheath confinement facility, according to the release. Kleitz and Horton are the third and fourth airmen convicted since a six-month investigation by the Office of Special Investigation ended, said Master Sgt. Will Ackerman, a 48th Fighter Wing spokesman.
All four airmen court-martialed thus far have pleaded guilty to the charges.
The investigation is ongoing, and no other airmen have been charged or court-martialed, Ackerman said.
“Whether more will be charged or courts-martialed depends on the evidence,” Ackerman said.
Base spokesmen were just as tight-lipped after the first two courts-martial cases in early December and declined to speculate on possible future cases.
Some of the airmen may never be charged, and others may be punished nonjudicially, Ackerman said, adding that drug use does not necessarily mean an automatic discharge.
“Nothing is automatic,” he said. A commander will decide the punishment in nonjudicial cases and the courts will determine it after a courts-martial, Ackerman said.
