## UNITED STATES ARMY COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS

Before
ALDYKIEWICZ, SALUSSOLIA, and FLEMING Appellate Military Judges

UNITED STATES, Appellee

v. Specialist NATHANIEL MARTIN JR. United States Army, Appellant

ARMY 20180495

Headquarters

, 7th Infantry Division Lanny J. Acosta, Jr. and Jennifer B. Green

, Military Judge s Colonel Russel l N. Parson, Staff Judge Advocate

For Appellant: Lieutenant Colonel Tiffany D . Pond, JA; Major Jack D. Einhorn, JA; Captain Steven J. Dray , JA (on brief).

For Appellee: Colonel Steven P. Haight , J A; Lieutenant Colonel Wayne H.

Willi ams, JA; Major D ustin B. Myrie , JA; Major Anne Savin , JA (on brief).

29 April 2020

- -------------------------------- SUMMARY DISPOSITION

------------- --------------------

This opinion is issued as an unpublished opinion and, as such, does not serv e as precedent.

Per Curiam :

Appellant stole over $36 ,000 from the Army

, in the form of housing and family separation allowances

. ∗ To get this money, appellant repeatedly told the Army that he was married, when, in reality , he was divorced.

∗ A panel with enlisted representation sitting as a special court

- martial convicted appellant, contrary to his pleas, of three specifications of larceny of military property of a value greater than $500, and six specifications of false official
statement, in violation of Articles 121 and 107, 10 U.S.C. §§ 921, 907, Uniform Code of Military Justice [UCMJ] (2016). The convening authority approved the adjudged sentence of reduction to the grade of E

- 1, confinement for 45 days, and a

bad

- conduct discharge.MARTIN

— ARMY 201 80495

2 We review appellant’s case under Article 66, UCMJ. A ppellant contends the government’s evidence was factually insufficient to support hi s larceny convictions,

and his six separate convictions of false official s tatement represent an unreasonable

m ultiplication of charges (UMC )

. We affirm but write briefly to explain that appellant ’s UMC claim misapprehends the pu rpose and intent of Article 107.

Appellant’s UMC claim never gets off the ground. A ppellant contends that

because the “criminality behind” his Article 107 convictions was not the statements themselves, but rather the fact that appellant made the statements “in order to steal money from the gov ernment, ” his se parate Article 107 convictions represented an

unreasona ble multiplication of charges

.

This argument demonstrates a basic misunderstanding of Article 107. The “criminality behind” appellant’ s false official statements was the falsehood of those

stateme nts

. A n Article 107 conviction does not depend on the false statement having been made to e ffectuate an underlying crime; e ach false official statem ent is

a free

- standing crime in

- and

- of itself, notwithstanding the speaker’s underlyi ng motivation

. See, e .g., United States v. Solis , 46 M.J. 31, 33

- 34 ( C.A.A.F. 1997); s ee also United States v. Spicer , 71 M.J. 470, 474 (C.A.A.F. 2013) ( our superior court explaining the purpose of Article 107 is to “protect the authorized functions of the military from the perversion which might result from the deceptive practices” embodied by false statements ).

The harm of false official statements is m agnified in the military , wher e candor and accuracy in reporting is critical. As our superior court observed,

Military missions, whether in combat, in peacetime operations, or in training, are characterized by stress, tension, danger, and the need for rapid decisions b ased upon accurate information. The habits and traits of character developed in peace can make the difference

bet ween success or failure in war. Members of the armed forces are expected to give truthful answers to official inquiries, whether in garrison or in the field, in peace or in

war. When they fail to meet that standard, Article 107 is available to ensure compliance.

Solis , 46 M.J. at 34.

Thus, appellant’s separate convictions for false statements made in o rder to

steal money from the Army do n ot represent an unreasonable multiplication of charges.