Col. pleads guilty to role in paternity case - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Col. pleads guilty to role in paternity case

CARLISLE, Pa. — A recently discharged Army Reserve colonel pleaded guilty Jan. 23 in Cumberland County court to misdemeanor charges related to taking a paternity test for a former classmate at the Army War College.

As part of a plea deal with prosecutors, Bruce S. Adkins, 47, entered guilty pleas to two second-degree misdemeanor counts of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and obstruction of justice.

Adkins had cooperated with investigators and had testified against former Col. Scott M. Carlson, his former bowling buddy at the college. Adkins told investigators Carlson never told him about the child he had had out of wedlock with a former enlisted soldier.

Carlson was sentenced Dec. 30 to serve a minimum of four months in jail for two felony convictions of tampering with public records or information and attempted theft by deception. His attorney has initiated the appeals process.

Judge Edgar B. Bayley delayed Adkins’ sentencing. He ordered a presentencing report in a move attorneys said was to further review Adkins’ background and ordered Adkins to reappear in court May 12.

“Ultimately, sentencing is at my discretion,” Bayley said during the proceeding. “I’m not bound by any agreement.”

When asked about the presentencing report, Adkins’ attorney Greg Abeln said if Bayley is going to sentence Adkins to probation, “he is going to want to know more about him personally.”

Derek R. Clepper, the senior assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case, said, “We will not oppose a probation sentence.”

Adkins left the courthouse with his wife, Johnnie, walking slowly with the assistance of a cane. Adkins suffered a stroke in late December 2006, roughly four months before he posed as Carlson in the Cumberland County domestic relations office and submitted a DNA sample as part of Carlson’s court-ordered paternity test.

Adkins apologized for his actions. With tears welling in his eyes, he said he had been medically discharged from the Army.

“I would love to tell you that I was capable and fully understood what was happening at the time. There’s just a lot of things that I can’t do, and I have to rely on my wife, and I’m sorry that anyone was hurt,” he said.

Adkins’ wife said she believes the judge’s actions were fair.

“He is actually looking at the case, and I think that’s good,” she said. “Unfortunately, we’re judged by the last thing we do and it hasn’t been positive. There’s no winners in this. There’s a lot of victims, but there’s no winners. I support him 100 percent.”

Abeln said Adkins was medically discharged with 60 percent disability and a recommendation to receive neuropsychological rehabilitation.

The more serious of the two misdemeanor charges — tampering with or fabricating physical evidence — carries a maximum penalty of a $5,000 fine and/or up to two years in jail. However, sentencing guidelines in Pennsylvania recommend a penalty ranging from probation to up to a year in jail, Clepper said.