JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A former commander of the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison for interfering with an investigation into the death of a civilian with whom the commander had fought and argued over his affair with the man’s wife.
A federal judge in Jacksonville sentenced Navy Capt. John R. Nettleton, news outlets reported. He was convicted in January of obstruction of justice, concealing material facts, falsifying records and making false statements.
Nettleton, 54, was removed from command shortly after civilian Christopher Tur was found floating in waters off the base on the southeastern coast of Cuba in January 2015. Nettleton had commanded the base since June 2012, but not the detention center where suspected terrorists are held.
Nettleton wasn’t charged with Tur’s death.
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Nettleton denied to his superior officer and others that he had an affair, but investigators later determined that it had happened, according to federal prosecutors in Jacksonville, where Nettleton had been on temporary duty. Tur’s wife confirmed the affair during her testimony, authorities said.
Defense attorneys argued that Nettleton couldn’t be found guilty of any of the charges merely for violating provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice or for violating any Navy regulations.
An autopsy found that Tur, 42, died from drowning but that his ribs had been fractured before he went into the water, and he had a cut to his head. Authorities said the investigation also turned up Tur’s blood inside the entryway of Nettleton’s residence on the base and on a paper towel in the backyard.
Tur came to Guantanamo in May 2011 with his wife, Lara, and two children and worked as the loss prevention safety manager at the Navy Exchange, the main shopping complex on the base.
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On the night of his disappearance, Tur confronted the commander and Tur’s wife in front of witnesses at a party at the on-base nightclub. Each man had “consumed several alcoholic drinks,” according to the indictment.
Later that night, Tur went to Nettleton’s residence, where the two men fought. Nettleton’s daughter heard the commotion and came down to see her father on the ground and Tur standing over him shortly before he left the area and wasn’t seen again, according to documents.
Around that time, a friend of Tur’s reported getting a call from Tur, who said he was at Nettleton’s house and had “just knocked the skipper out,” the documents said.
After Tur went missing, Nettleton failed to tell people leading the search for him that he was last seen at Nettleton’s house when they fought, and the commander instead led them to believe he was last seen at the nightclub, according to prosecutors.
