Navy SEAL pleads guilty in Lubbock Green Beret s death
Army Times and A-J Media staff reports
A Navy SEAL charged in the strangulation death of an Army Green Beret Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar of Lubbock in 2017 pleaded guilty to reduced charges on Thursday.
During a hearing at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, Navy Chief Special Warfare Operator Tony E. DeDolph pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, obstruction of justice, conspiracy charges related to assault and obstruction of justice, and hazing, according to an article from Army Times.
DeDolph faces a maximum punishment of 22 years, six months in prison, reduction to E-1, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, a fine and dishonorable discharge.
Navy Chief Special Warfare Operator Tony E. DeDolph, a U.S. Navy SEAL with SEAL Team 6, has agreed to plead guilty to some of the charges against him in the June 4, 2017 strangulation death of Army Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar, a Green Beret, in Mali.
DeDolph’s attorney Phillip Stackhouse told Military Times his client agreed to plead guilty to some charges while other contested charges would be dropped, adding that his client “never intended to injure” Melgar. DeDolph is the third defendant in the case to plead guilty.
DeDolph, along with fellow SEAL Navy Chief SWO Adam C. Matthews, U.S. Marine Raider Staff Sgt. Kevin Maxwell Jr. and Marine Raider Gunnery Sgt. Mario Madera-Rodriguez, are alleged to have taken part in a hazing ritual with Melgar that led to his death. The elite U.S. troops were in Mali as part of counterterrorism operations for the U.S. Embassy in the western African country. DeDolph and the three others are alleged to have surprised Melgar while he was sleeping