Retired Marine Corps General Pleads Guilty to Lying to FBI

Retired Marine Corps general James E. Cartwright has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and will be sentenced in January.

Cartwright, 67, was a key member of President Obama’s national security team in his former role as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

He has admitted misleading federal investigators over his discussions with reporters about Iran’s nuclear program in an offense that carries a maximum five year jail term and a $250,000 fine.

At the 30 minute hearing at the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia both Government and defense attorneys recommend that an appropriate sentence for the former Marine Corps general would be from 0-6 months.

However the court is not bound by those guidelines when sentencing takes place on January 17.

After today’s 30 minute hearing, Cartwright, once known as “Obama’s favorite general,” said in a statement: “It was wrong for me to mislead the F.B.I. on November 2, 2012, and I accept full responsibility for this.

“I knew I was not the source of the story and I didn’t want to be blamed for the leak. My only goal in talking to the reporters was to protect American interests and lives; I love my country and continue to this day to do everything I can to defend it.”

General Cartwright’s guilty plea was not for leaking, but for lying to agents who were conducting an investigation into an apparent leak.

Cartwright was vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2007 until 2011.

He is a former fighter pilot who is known for his expertise in the more highly technical areas of cyberwarfare and America’s nuclear enterprise.

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