The Marine Corps has dropped human trafficking and drug charges against most of about two dozen U.S. Marines who were arrested in June 2019 in front of their battalion at Camp Pendleton in California.
A video of the Marines being pulled out of formation and apprehended this summer went viral.
The charges were dropped after a military judge later ruled the mass arrests amounted to a violation of their rights, officials confirmed.
“After that ruling, I think the government saw the writing on the wall and wanted to get this out of the court system,” Capt. Charles Whitman, who represented one of the accused Marines, told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The cases against 13 of them will be handled administratively. A 1st Marine Division statement said they will be separated from the Marine Corps rather than face courts-martial.
Marine Corps officials said six pleaded guilty to the charges while the cases against the remaining Marines are still pending.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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