Former Army lawyer pleads guilty to destroying government property

A former Army officer and military lawyer has pleaded guilty to federal charges involving the destruction of military property and lying to federal investigators.

First Lt. Manfredo Martin-Michael Madrigal III was assigned to the Army’s Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Legal Center and School in 2022, where his job was to create training materials, while awaiting discharge for failing to disclose a previous drunk driving conviction.

Following his plea Wednesday, the 38-year-old man now faces sentencing on one count of destruction of government materials and three counts of making a false statement, according to court documents . A charge of cyberstalking, witness intimidation and domestic violence will be dismissed as part of his plea agreement.

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Madrigal filmed himself deleting legal training materials related to national security without permission, according to court documents. He texted the video of the act to a woman who was his former romantic partner and a fellow military member.

The video recorded him saying, “You thought you could easily remove me?” among other expletives regarding the Army.

The lieutenant then sent another text message and voicemail to the same woman saying, “Ya, Russia has reached out to me,” and that he planned to travel to the country.

Madrigal’s attorney, John N. Maher, told McClatchy News in an emailed statement that the investigation began under suspicion of national security espionage.

Maher said at the time of the incidents his client was struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder that arose from his combat service and he was “drinking to excess.” He has been sober for two years following the incidents, Maher said.

Before his Feb. 22, 2022, discharge, Madrigal again messaged the woman, saying Russian officials in Washington, D.C., had reached him and “they would like to know what I know,” according to court documents.

However, the same court filings reveal that no phone records indicate Russian officials contacted Madrigal. The phone records do show that Madrigal called the Russian embassy in Washington on the same day he deleted the training materials, and spoke to someone for nearly three minutes, according to court documents.

Madrigal previously served as an enlisted paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division and as a noncommissioned officer with the 75th Ranger Regiment, his attorney said.

Prosecutors said in court filings that Madrigal had “served overseas on sensitive operations” prior to his assignment at the JAG school.

Madrigal claimed he had no unreported contact with a foreign national on his out-processing forms.

In April and May 2022, he told FBI agents he didn’t delete any Army training documents and had never spoken with a foreign national at the Russian embassy, according to court documents.

Madrigal was arrested in August 2022 on cyberstalking charges.

FBI agents learned he had threatened the woman he’d previously sent the video and messages. Records indicate he sent messages threatening her “career, family and pets” between late 2021 and mid-2022.

Some of the messages included a series of numbers and letters which were identified as codes and passwords the woman used to access her personal accounts, apartment complex and her vehicle license plate number.

He also sent the woman sexually explicit photos of her that she did not know he possessed, according to court documents.

Also in August 2022, Madrigal threatened another woman, also a former romantic partner, by pointing a pistol at her head, forcing her to give FBI agents false information about him, according to court documents.