Sep 19, 2006 8:39 pm US/Mountain
Missing Marine Pled Guilty To '04 Felony Charge
by Rick Sallinger
BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) ―
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Lance Hering, a Marine who was reported missing last week, is now accused of staging his disappearance according to Boulder County Sheriff's Department investigators.
CBS
Court records show a missing marine pleaded guilty to a felony burglary charge and a misdemeanor of obstructing a police officer in 2004. The findings have raised the question about how he was able to enlist in the U.S. Marines the year after the crime.
Lance Hering is overdue to report back to Camp Pendleton in California. He was last seen hiking in Eldorado Canyon.
The Boulder County Sheriff's office believes Hering faked his own disappearance to possibly avoid going back to Iraq.
Hering was charged in a burglary incident at a Saver's store in Boulder. He was caught trying to break in through the roof wearing a ski mask.
"A felony conviction will initially disqualify you from enlisting in the Marine Corps," said Capt. Benjamin Deda with the U.S. Marines.
That wasn't Hering's only problem. Court records show he had a trespass arrest in 2003 and wrote that that he suffered from Graves Disease which is a thyroid condition.
"That would initially disqualify you from service in the Marine Corps or any other service," Capt. Deda said.
If Marine recruiters had done a background check on Hering, it's possible they could have missed his felony conviction.
"A jail deputy had erroneously entered his record under the name of another individual by the name of Hering, H-A-R-I-N-G," said Commander Phil West with the Boulder County Sheriff's office.
After a lengthy search for the missing marine, Steve Powers who was arrested with Hering in 2004, told investigators Hering faked his own death to escape further Marine duty in Iraq.
He wasn't due to return to Iraq until 2008.
Camp Pendleton says the maximum penalty for desertion during wartime is death but says that won't happen in this case.
If Hering fails to show up in 30 days, he could be classified as a deserter.
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