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Treason - I had never heard of this case
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/usaaf-pilot-defected-flew-his-p-38-to-milan-and-joined-the-ss.html/attachment/18lmc5cswv3pjjpg
I find this a little bewildering:
In 1946, Monti was court-martialed for stealing the plane and for desertion; he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. His sentence was later suspended and he was allowed to reenlist in the Army as a private on February 11, 1947. He was a sergeant when he was discharged on January 26, 1948.
Minutes later, the FBI arrested him at Mitchell Field, New York, and charged him with treason for the propaganda activities of “Martin Wiethaupt”, which the FBI had now tied to him. On October 14, a federal grand jury in Brooklyn indicted him for 21 acts of treason committed between October 13, 1944, and May 8, 1945, the day hostilities in Europe ended. On January 17, 1949, he pleaded guilty, surprising the prosecutors and the court, which had prepared for a lengthy trial. Because of the seriousness of the charges, the court required testimony despite his guilty plea, and, according to The New York Times, “without hesitation, Monti took the witness chair” where he admitted all the charges. Asked by the judge if he had acted “voluntarily”, he answered “Yes”. His attorney then asked for leniency, citing his upbringing in an extremist and isolationist environment that “fanatically imbued” him to identify Soviet Russia as the nation’s principal enemy. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $10,000.
He served his sentence in Leavenworth Penitentiary, Kansas. In 1951, he tried without success to withdraw that plea, claiming he had “no treasonable intent” when he flew into enemy territory and that he had been pressured by his attorneys into pleading guilty. He was paroled in 1960 and died in 2000.
Minutes later, the FBI arrested him at Mitchell Field, New York, and charged him with treason for the propaganda activities of “Martin Wiethaupt”, which the FBI had now tied to him. On October 14, a federal grand jury in Brooklyn indicted him for 21 acts of treason committed between October 13, 1944, and May 8, 1945, the day hostilities in Europe ended. On January 17, 1949, he pleaded guilty, surprising the prosecutors and the court, which had prepared for a lengthy trial. Because of the seriousness of the charges, the court required testimony despite his guilty plea, and, according to The New York Times, “without hesitation, Monti took the witness chair” where he admitted all the charges. Asked by the judge if he had acted “voluntarily”, he answered “Yes”. His attorney then asked for leniency, citing his upbringing in an extremist and isolationist environment that “fanatically imbued” him to identify Soviet Russia as the nation’s principal enemy. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $10,000.
He served his sentence in Leavenworth Penitentiary, Kansas. In 1951, he tried without success to withdraw that plea, claiming he had “no treasonable intent” when he flew into enemy territory and that he had been pressured by his attorneys into pleading guilty. He was paroled in 1960 and died in 2000.
They shot Eddie Slovnik for less
1 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
