Former West Point cadet Chris Monge was thrown out of school and into navy jail for dealing and utilizing cocaine, Xanax and opiates on the nation’s foremost navy academy in 2017.
Army prosecutors known as him a drug “kingpin” on the US Military Academy in Orange County, NY.
Monge, now 27, was so hooked on opiates that even when he returned to the campus in shame to satisfy along with his lawyer and prep for his court-martial, he was utilizing.
Over the three-day course of, he drove greater than two and a half hours — twice — again to his Allentown, Pa., hometown to get by it.
“I was high the day of the hearing,” Monge informed The Post. “I pled guilty to all charges and got sentenced to 30 months at Fort Leavenworth. I did 15 months and was paroled for 10 months.”
He hopes West Point could also be extra forgiving of the cadets who ingested fentanyl-tainted cocaine throughout a spring break getaway in Wilton Manors, Fla., on March 11.
The 5 New York cadets — all males of their early 20s and at the very least one a soccer participant — had been partying at an Airbnb rental north of Fort Lauderdale, neighbors stated. All however one have been launched from the hospital.
A former Air Force cadet who attended the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., stated he wasn’t stunned to listen to at the very least one soccer participant was among the many overdose victims.
“Cocaine was really prevalent among the football team,” he informed The Post. “They would wait until a long weekend to do it because it leaves your system quickly. Weed can stay for a long time. We were randomly tested at the academy.”
Drug specialists say cocaine or its metabolites usually can present up on a blood or saliva check for as much as two days, a urine check for as much as three days and a hair check for months and even years.
Police haven’t but recognized the cadets and West Point didn’t return repeated requires remark. It’s not instantly clear what disciplinary measures the cadets face, however unlawful drug use will be grounds for speedy expulsion.
In 2001, three cadets on the Air Force Academy have been caught doing medication in a random drug check. Two have been court-martialed and put in jail, the third resigned underneath strain, and 9 cadets have been placed on probation only for understanding concerning the drug use however not telling authorities.
Monge’s bust in 2016 concerned 5 different cadets, together with a defensive back on West Point’s famed football team, the Army Black Knights. Jared Rogers was not accused of promoting medication however he was hooked on ache drugs. His crime was permitting a fellow cadet to make use of his automotive to convey medication on campus.
Monge and Tevin Long, one other West Point soccer participant, have been each court-martialed. Rogers prevented felony fees however was given a dishonorable discharge.
Greg T. Rinckey, an lawyer who makes a speciality of navy legislation and a former JAG (Army decide advocate basic), has each prosecuted and defended troopers, together with West Point college students, on every part from drug possession to homicide.
Rinckey stated the cadets will most likely be “dis-enrolled” from the varsity, which is West Point-speak for “expelled.”
“It will depend on what defense counsel is going to spin,” Rinckey informed The Post. “‘Fentanyl was in the brownies! They didn’t know!’ Or, ‘They thought they were smoking marijuana but fentanyl was in the joint.’ But if there are witnesses who say they saw [the cadets] buying and ingesting cocaine, that’s something else altogether.”
West Point cadets are technically active-duty Army cadets and topic to being criminally charged, based on the Uniform Code of Military Justice. They might additionally face a separate administrative motion.
In a case like this one, Rinckey stated, the same old course of is that the Army’s Criminal Investigative Division (CID) will study the case and current a report back to the superintendent of West Point, Lt. Gen. Darryl A. Williams, who’s more likely to make a ultimate choice about tips on how to proceed in session with an Army lawyer, or decide advocate.
If kicked out, they’ll additionally must pay again tuition. Schooling is generally free so long as college students graduate and fulfill 5 years of navy service.
“Uncle Sam is going to want his money back,” Rinckey stated.
Monge is aware of all about that. He was informed he owed $170,000 in tuition cash after he was kicked out of West Point, a determine that’s now jumped to over $200,000 with curiosity. He stated he just lately obtained a discover asking him to pay $5,000 a month towards his invoice, which he stated is unattainable given his modest job as a salesman at a trucking firm.
He hopes the cadets who overdosed keep away from his destiny.
“If West Point is open about it and understanding, they can treat it more like alcohol [abuse] and think in terms of rehab rather than just slamming the book at them,” Monge informed The Post.
“At the end of the day, it’s another college — but at other colleges, students have a lot more freedom to test the same waters and make mistakes in judgment,” Monge stated. “It’s just because West Point is this prestigious university held to a higher standard. How many students do you think are doing hard drugs at Penn State? Plenty.”
A duplicate of a letter concerning the cadet overdoses in Florida, emailed to the varsity and its alumni on March 14 from Williams, was obtained by The Post.
“Members of the Long Gray Line,” the letter started. “As a lot of you recognize, the United States Military Academy has been working by a critical incident involving a number of Cadets. The well being and security of all our Cadets is my prime concern and precedence. I ask that you just chorus from speculating or commenting on the small print of any ongoing investigation.
“We will continue to support any ongoing investigation, and once completed, we will take appropriate action to ensure the health and safety of our Cadets and to maintain good order and discipline within the Corps. America looks to the Academy to develop leaders who embody the highest level of character. Character development is the most important thing we do here at the Academy. Good order and discipline are vitally important to our success. Therefore, illegal drugs of any kind have no place at West Point, in our Army, or in our Military.”
Lucian Truscott IV, a 1969 graduate and legacy of West Point who wrote the 1978 traditional “Dress Gray,” stated alcohol and drug abuse have been rampant within the Army — and at West Point — for many years.
“The idea of these guys buying alleged cocaine with fentanyl doesn’t surprise me at all,” he stated.
He was skeptical about Williams’ letter and whether or not West Point would make any critical effort to fight medication and alcohol on campus.
“‘Character development’ is something that’s nice to do, but what they’re doing at West Point is training people to kill people in wars,” Truscott informed The Post. “They don’t give a f–k as long as you kill people. [Gen.] George Patton was terribly anti-Semitic. But they were fine with him as long as he was killing Nazis.”
Monge stated he was not topic to random drug exams throughout the educational 12 months, solely when he returned to high school at the beginning of the 12 months. Even so, he stated, he stored a small shampoo-size bottle of a buddy’s clear urine in a desk drawer that he might seize “if I got the call.”
Fort Lauderdale hearth and rescue officers initially reported that 4 folks within the Florida spring break rental had taken a substance believed to be cocaine laced with fentanyl, and that two others have been uncovered to the fentanyl after they tried to manage life-saving CPR.
Four have been hospitalized after a chaotic scene on the home.
“People are passing out. Three people passed out, because they drank a lot. Like a lot a lot,” the frantic 911 caller stated as raised voices and commotion have been heard within the background.
“They did some coke and they’ve been drinking heavily for the last couple days and they’re …,” he stated, trailing off as he consoled a crying lady.
“We good. We good. We good. It’s okay, baby, don’t worry about it,” he informed her, as somebody within the background was heard yelling, “Hold it the f–k together.”
Cub Larkin, 46, who lives throughout the road from the home, stated ODs from fentanyl-laced medication usually are not unusual in Wilton Manors. There’s a ready listing to get Narcan, a prescription nasal spray used to reverse the consequences of an overdose, he stated, and many individuals preserve a container of their properties and within the glove compartments of their automobiles.
Larkin informed The Post that he has seen folks overdose earlier than however by no means with the “intensity” he witnessed the afternoon of March 11. He stated he and his husband heard police sirens and went exterior to see what was taking place.
“I saw four people removed from house on stretchers,” Larkin stated. “I could have sworn that two of the young gentlemen were dead. What really sticks in my mind was how unresponsive they were. They were just flopping off the stretchers. I’ve never seen anyone so unconscious.”
An alleged provider of cocaine was arrested Saturday in reference to the contaminated batch given the cadets after making a sale to an undercover officer. Axel Giovany Casseus, 21, is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Although his life didn’t take the route he had deliberate whereas on the college, Monge — who stated he’s been clear since his listening to date of May 10, 2017, when he was whisked off to jail — believes that what occurred to him “was a blessing in disguise. I came to terms with why I was using and found God.”
But he fears the Army will throw the guide on the cadets they usually would possibly find yourself labeled felons “for the rest of their lives,” he stated. “Meanwhile, there’s so many other people at West Point and elsewhere that do the same thing and get away with it.”
Truscott, nevertheless, doesn’t assume the cadets shall be expelled.
“If they kicked out everyone at West Point or in the Army who abused alcohol and/or drugs,” he stated, “we wouldn’t have an Army or an academy.”
The post Cocaine and pain pills: Inside secret drug culture at West Point first appeared on Umorr.
