Current:Home > NewsArmy private who fled to North Korea will plead guilty to desertion-LoTradeCoin
Army private who fled to North Korea will plead guilty to desertion
View Date:2024-12-23 19:55:02
WASHINGTON (AP) — An Army private who fled to North Korea just over a year ago will plead guilty to desertion and four other charges and take responsibility for his conduct, his lawyer said Monday.
Travis King’s attorney, Franklin D. Rosenblatt, told The Associated Press, that King intends to admit his guilt to military offenses, including desertion and assaulting an officer. Nine other offenses, including possession of sexual images of a child, will be dismissed under the terms of the deal.
King will be given an opportunity at a Sept. 20 plea hearing at Fort Bliss, Texas, to discuss his actions.
“He wants to take responsibility for the things that he did,” Rosenblatt said. He declined to comment on a possible sentence that his client might face.
Desertion is a serious charge and can result in imprisonment for as much as three years.
The AP reported last month that the two sides were in plea talks.
King bolted across the heavily fortified border from South Korea in July 2023, and became the first American detained in North Korea in nearly five years.
His run into North Korea came soon after he was released from a South Korean prison where he had served nearly two months on assault charges.
About a week after his release from the prison, military officers took him to the airport so he could return to Fort Bliss to face disciplinary action. He was escorted as far as customs, but instead of getting on the plane, he joined a civilian tour of the Korean border village of Panmunjom. He then ran across the border, which is lined with guards and often crowded with tourists.
He was detained by North Korea, but after about two months, Pyongyang abruptly announced that it would expel him. On Sept. 28, he was flown to back to Texas, and has been in custody there.
The U.S. military in October filed a series of charges against King under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including desertion, as well as kicking and punching other officers, unlawfully possessing alcohol, making a false statement and possessing a video of a child engaged in sexual activity. Those allegations date back to July 10, the same day he was released from the prison.
veryGood! (88)
Related
- John Robinson, successful football coach at USC and with the LA Rams, has died at 89
- Mama June Shannon Shares Heartbreaking Message on Late Daughter Anna Cardwell’s Birthday
- Love Is Blind’s Stacy Snyder Comes Out as Queer
- Investigators say dispatching errors led to Union Pacific train crash that killed 2 workers
- School workers accused of giving special needs student with digestive issue hot Takis, other abuse
- College football season predictions: Picks for who makes playoff, wins title and more
- Watch as abandoned baby walrus gets second chance at life, round-the-clock care
- Pregnant Brittany Mahomes Details Lesson Learned After Back Injury
- McDonald's Version: New Bestie Bundle meals celebrate Swiftie friendship bracelets
- What is EEE? See symptoms, map of cases after death reported in New Hampshire
Ranking
- Florida education officials report hundreds of books pulled from school libraries
- Freeform's 31 Nights of Halloween Promises to Be a Hauntingly Good Time
- Federal authorities announce additional arrests in multistate pharmacy burglary ring
- Jewish family can have anti-hate yard signs after neighbor used slur, court says
- King Charles III celebrates 76th birthday amid cancer battle, opens food hubs
- Karolina Muchova sends former champion Naomi Osaka packing in second round of US Open
- Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will teach a course on running for office at Yale
- RFK Jr.'s name to remain on presidential ballot in North Carolina
Recommendation
-
The state that cleared the way for sports gambling now may ban ‘prop’ bets on college athletes
-
1 person taken to a hospital after turbulence forces Cancun-to-Chicago flight to land in Tennessee
-
Real Housewives of Orange County's Alexis Bellino Engaged to John Janssen After 9 Months of Dating
-
Michael Kor’s Labor Day Sale Has Designer Bags, Boots & More up to 90% off Right Now, Starting at $23
-
Elton John Details Strict Diet in His 70s
-
US swimmers haul in silver, but an accusation of cheating becomes hurtful
-
Want To Achieve Perfect Fall Hair? These Are the Hair Tools You Need
-
Shania Twain's Husband Frédéric Thiébaud Gives Glimpse Inside Their Love Story on Her Birthday