Soldier charged with faking suicide to go AWOL in Mexico and ‘fight cartels’
Kyle Rempfer
20 hours ago
A soldier who faked his own suicide in December so he could allegedly go absent without leave in Mexico was charged in federal court Wednesday for sending a false distress message to the Coast Guard, launching a 10-hour search party and wasting $172,000, according to court records.
Devin M. Schmidt, 20, was assigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, until March 25, when he received an other than honorable discharge at the rank of private for his attempted AWOL scheme. He was originally charged under the UCMJ but took the lower discharge in exchange for an administrative separation without a criminal conviction.
Schmidt and his cousin, Ryen E. Bell, 21, were ultimately charged by the Justice Department, however, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Tacoma.
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2020/04/03/soldier-charged-with-faking-suicide-to-go-awol-in-mexico-and-fight-cartels/
