NEW DETAILS: Former Wright-Patt commander is now confined on base
Apr. 16—Col. Christopher Meeker has started the confinement portion of his sentence on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the base he once led as installation commander.
"He is at the confinement facility on base," Derek Kaufman, spokesman for the Air Force Materiel Command, said Wednesday.
In a one-day court-martial at the base Tuesday, Meeker, the former commander of the 88th Air Base Wing, pled guilty to willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer and fraternization.
During the trial, Meeker acknowledged having a personal and sexual relationship with a non-commissioned officer at Wright-Patterson, a staff sergeant, after Lt. Gen. Donna Shipton, commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at the base, ordered him not to have contact with the NCO.
As part of a plea agreement revealed during the trial, prosecutors asked a judge to dismiss a specification of extramarital sexual conduct against Meeker.
He was sentenced to to 21 days confinement, a reprimand, and forfeiture of $14,000, or $7,000 of pay a month for two months.
In military courts-martial, the sentencing phase immediately follows the findings phase, which determines guilt or innocence, Air Force Materiel Command said in a statement.
"Absent restrictions imposed by terms of the plea agreement, the maximum punishment was dismissal, reprimand, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for seven years," AFMC said.
Meeker told a judge that he "willfully disobeyed" the in-person and electronic no-contact order, that his behavior demonstrated a lack of personal and professional discipline, and he acted "selfishly, for my own personal happiness."
Prosecutors argued that Meeker's contact with the staff sergeant took place well after Shipton had extended an original no-contact order in March last year.
In an interview with Air Force investigators, the NCO painted a portrait of nearly daily contact with Meeker, electronic conversations wiped away by the Signal app and meetings for sex "four to five times a week," at a time when the no-contact order was in place.
The staff sergeant has since left the Air Force Force.
"Col. Meeker has been full of apologies and devoid of resolution," a prosecutor, Capt. Connor McAfee, said in a closing argument during the trial at the headquarters of the 88th Air Base Wing.
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'And it turns out that I had. It was Trump, and he was just calling to check in.' Before the call, Adams had recently shared publicly that he has 'the same cancer that Joe Biden has,' and that he expects to die in the coming months. In his video, Adams explained that Trump left 'a semi-lengthy little voicemail,' saying that Adams could call him back on this number. 'Now obviously I don't call him back, right, because that would just be ridiculous,' Adams continued. Trump's habit of leaving lengthy voicemails is by design—not just because he's a phone guy but because he relishes giving people something they can play for friends and family. 'Who doesn't like to get a voicemail message from the president of the United States?' one adviser said. When Trump finally gets ahold of someone after having left a voicemail, he will sometimes ask recipients whether they have played his voicemail for others, the person said. [Jeffrey Goldberg: The Trump Administration accidentally texted me its war plans] Hours after Adams missed his call from Trump, his phone rang again, and once again a Florida number blinked onto the screen. This time, the cartoonist knew enough to answer. 'No fucking way,' Adams remembered thinking. 'There's no way he's calling me again. And I answer it, and it's Trump. And apparently he had heard my situation, and he had lots of questions.' The call ended with Trump telling Adams to just ask if he needed anything, and he would make it happen. As accessible as Trump is, even some who have his number are reticent about using it—or are at least strategic about it. One of the advisers we talked with told us they always try to find the best moment to call. 'If I call him, nine times out of 10, I've talked to somebody there and said, 'Tell me when to call,' and they've said, 'He just left dinner and just walked into the residence,'' this person told us. 'And I know multiple people who do the same thing, who game-plan it out and talk to the people around him and say, 'Tell me when it's a good time.'' The outside ally told us they are careful about how frequently they call Trump. 'I rarely call unless I'm asked to call. He's the president of the United States.' This person added that they've witnessed Trump pick up his phone and scroll through the list of chief executives and wealthy supplicants who have called, poking fun at their eagerness. 'That's why I'm really reluctant to call,' the ally explained. 'You don't want to be the guy who's the butt of the joke, who he's laughing at: 'Can you believe this guy is calling?'' Others give little thought to the timing of their calls. Trump's phone could be heard ringing during a recent press conference in which he discussed a proposed 50 percent tariff on Apple. The familiar sound of the default 'Reflection' ringtone—you know the one, the synthesized waterfall of xylophone tones—was a reminder that the tariffs targeted the company that makes his beloved device. Before the press entered the Oval Office, the president had placed the phone on the Resolute desk, next to his two secure White House landline phones. 'It's a phone call, do you mind?' he joked when the ringing started, before looking at the screen and telling reporters, 'It's only a congressman.' Seconds later, the phone rang again. 'It's a different congressman,' he joked, as he struggled to silence his portal to the wider world. Jonathan Lemire contributed reporting. Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Mannie Garcia / Bloomberg / Getty; Sipa / AP / Getty; Alex Brandon / AP; Evan Vucci / AP; Rich Graessle / Icon Sportswire / AP; Matt Rourke / AP. Article originally published at The Atlantic
