Atlanta Journal Constitution-Ft. Benning Pvt. Pays Soldier To Shoot Him

Fort Benning, Ga.: vosizneias.com

(Story reported by Larry Harstein for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

A Fort Benning private accused of paying a fellow solider to shoot him in the leg so he could get out of the Army has been court-martialed.

Pvt. Jonne T. Wegley was sentenced to four months' confinement and given a dishonorable discharge after being found guilty Monday of solicitation to commit aggravated assault, maiming, intentionally inflicting self-injury and conspiracy, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reports.

Wegley and William M. Hudgins carried out the scheme in a wooded area near the firing range during basic training in May 2009, after Wegley offered Hudgins $5,000 and a job, prosecutors said.

Wegley was depressed, prosecutors said. His brother was in the hospital and his girlfriend had aborted their child after finding proof Wegley cheated on her, prosecutors said, according to the paper.

"Private Wegley is a self-serving individual willing to do anything to get out of the Army," Capt. Caitlin Chiaramonte told the court. "Private Wegley not only ruined his career, but Mr. Hudgins' career."

Wegley's attorney argued the shooting was a negligent discharge, adding that the private could have been kicked out of the Army for simply refusing to train, the paper reported.

(Click here to read the full story on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website.)