Pablo Paredes is reporting for duty at San Diego Naval Station while the Navy decides whether to charge him for refusing to board his Iraq-bound ship.
Paredes, a petty officer third class, turned himself in to naval authorities Saturday. He had refused to board the Bonhomme Richard on Dec. 6, when it left for the Middle East carrying thousands of Camp Pendleton Marines.
Navy spokesman N. Scott Sutherland said Paredes, 23, has assigned duties and responsibilities but isn't restricted to the base. The Navy considers Paredes a deserter, Sutherland said.
San Diego attorney Jeremy Warren, who is representing Paredes, said it could be several weeks before the Navy decides whether to file charges against the Bronx, N.Y., native.
Warren said the Navy has treated his client "really well." He's concerned, though, that the public nature of Paredes' refusal to board his ship might lead to stiffer charges than might otherwise be the case.
Paredes had called the news media to say he intended to become a conscientious objector. Several journalists were pier side when the Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault ship, sailed without Paredes.
The Navy didn't arrest Paredes at the time, saying that technically he couldn't be considered missing until a roll call was taken aboard ship.
In recent days, Paredes has not responded to numerous phone messages.
Warren said his client has no "interest in being a deserter or shirking his responsibility to the Navy," but he's compelled to leave the service because he believes the war is immoral.
"Should a guy be punished for his political beliefs more harshly than someone who misses his ship because he is out getting drunk?" Warren asked. "The question is how hard is the Navy going to slam him."
Punishment could be severe, said Donald G. Rehkopf Jr., a veteran military defense attorney.
Paredes' designation as a deserter is an important legal distinction, Rehkopf said, that might signal the Navy's intention to press charges to the fullest under military law.
Usually, a member of the military missing from duty for less than a month is listed as an unauthorized absence, he said.
"While there is no legal prohibition against charging someone with desertion right off the bat, customarily the military waits 30 days," said Rehkopf, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel in Rochester, N.Y. He said the maximum penalty for desertion is five years' imprisonment.
Sutherland, deputy public affairs officer for Navy Region Southwest in San Diego, said sailors deemed UA are less likely to face a court-martial than those considered to be deserters.
Rick Rogers: (760) 476-8212; rick.rogers@uniontrib.com
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