Discharged Birther Army Doc Gets 6 Months in Prison

Terry Lakin 'crushed'
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Suggested by kokuaguy
Posted Dec 17, 2010 2:59 AM CST
Discharged Birther Army Doc Gets 6 Months in Prison
Army Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin of Greeley, Colo., left, leaves a military court after being found guilty of missing a flight for deployment.   (AP)

An Army doctor who refused to deploy to Afghanistan until he saw President Obama's birth certificate has been kicked out of the service and jailed for 6 months. Lt. Col. Terry Lakin, an 18-year-veteran, was found guilty of disobeying orders and ignoring his deployment instructions after a 3-day court martial attended by dozens of "birthers," Stars and Stripes reports. He had argued that the president wasn't the lawful commander in chief until he proved to Lakin that he was born in the US.

Lakin—who could have been sentenced to up to 3 years in military prison—also forfeits his retirement benefits. The doctor said a YouTube video in which he admits inviting his own court-martial was a mistake, brought on by pressure and bad advice from supporters. "I want to continue to serve," a teary-eyed Lakin told jurors during the sentencing phase. "It crushed me not to be on deployment. I can be on a plane tomorrow. I’d truly do that.” (More birther stories.)

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