Air Force Colonel Discharged, Gets Jail Time
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WICHITA FALLS, Texas — An Air Force colonel was sentenced to nine years in prison yesterday and kicked out of the military for assaulting a woman, misusing his government travel card, and other crimes at Sheppard Air Force Base.
Colonel Samuel Lofton III faced 140 years in prison after being convicted of 34 counts, including indecent assault, larceny, being absent without leave, and conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.
The 49-year-old former training commander “systematically abused his power, position, and authority to the detriment of the Air Force and to the detriment of those around him,” a prosecutor, Captain John Montgomery, said during closing arguments in the sentencing phase yesterday. “The Air Force will recover, and the stains will fade over time. But (the assault victim) will have memories of this for the rest of her life.”
Lofton was convicted Wednesday of assaulting one woman but acquitted of rape and two other assault charges involving another. He was convicted of bad conduct charges involving a third woman.
He also racked up $26,000 in personal expenses on his government travel card and was reimbursed $14,000 for trips he never took. He pleaded guilty to those charges last week.
