Military Jury: Dismiss Marine

A military jury on Friday recommended dismissal for a Marine Corps navigator who admitted destroying a personal videotape he made before his jet cut an Italian ski gondola cable, killing 20 people.

But the jury is not calling for any prison time for Captain Joseph Schweitzer.

Schweitzer showed no emotion as the judge, Col. Alvin Keller, imposed the recommended sentence.

The nine-man panel of Marine officers deliberated three-and-a-half hours Friday before recommending punishment for Capt. Joseph Schweitzer, 31, of Westbury, N.Y.

Schweitzer pleaded guilty Monday to obstruction of justice and conspiracy for destroying the tape after his EA-6B Prowler hit the cable over Cavalese, Italy, on Feb. 3, 1998. The ski gondola plunged 370 feet into a valley and everyone on board was killed.

The judge had the option of sentencing Schweitzer to a previously undisclosed punishment recommended as part of Schweitzer's guilty plea, or to accept the jury's recommendation-whichever is more lenient.

He chose the jury's recommendation. The plea agreement called for forfeiture of pay and allowance and dismissal from the Marine Corps.

The sentence won't take effect until Lt. Gov. Peter Pace, who convened the court-martial, approves it.

In his testimony at his sentencing hearing Thursday, Schweitzer called himself "an embarrassment to the Marine Corps."

He said that he was concerned his face was on the tape and would be used in media reports about the tragedy.

During more than an hour of emotional testimony, Schweitzer became choked up as he recalled learning that people had died. "There are some days I just don't want to get out of bed because the burden is heavy," he said. "I deal with that every day. It's part of my life."

Prosecutors dropped 20 counts of manslaughter against Schweitzer after the pilot of the EA-6B Prowler, Capt. Richard Ashby, 32, of Mission Viejo, Calif., was acquitted of the same charges. Ashby still faces a trial for obstruction.

Schweitzer said he and Ashby switched the tape he shot for a blank tape after making an emergency landing at their Aviano, Italy, air base.

Four or five days later, Schweitzer dropped the tape into a bonfire. He said he had told his commanding officer that he had a camera but didn't use it on the flight.

Schweitzer said he had always wanted to tell the story and be truthful, but was advised by lawyers to be silent.

Schweitzer also was described by his former high school teacher as "always a sober and sane type of person" who called him after the accident and was hurt when he was branded a criminal by Italian media. "His fear of abandonment by the Marine Corps hurt him very, very much," said Father Philip Eichner.