An Air Force Academy cadet pleaded guilty during a hearing Thursday to using psilocybin and providing false information that could have blocked his appointment to the school.
Cadet Seth Misukanis confessed to Judge Col. Julie Pitvorec that he accepted a drink with psilocybin in it during a New Year’s Eve Party in 2022 while on leave in Illinois.
He told her that he knew his friend had been putting psilocybin in drinks and he knowingly accepted a drink with the drug in it.
He tested positive for the drug in January, which could have been presented as evidence if the case had gone to a trial.
“It has brought great discredit to the Air Force and who I am,” he said, in a statement ahead of his sentencing.
He also confessed to lying on a screening form about his use of psilocybin because he was concerned it would hurt his appointment to the Academy. Misrepresenting himself led to a fraudulent appointment charge.
As a part of the plea deal, charges of false statements and using cocaine were dismissed.
The academy was planning to disenroll Misukanis from the school Thursday, said Capt. Sarah Gaughan, a step that limited possible punishment in the case.
Possible discipline included revoking two-thirds of his pay, restricting him to base and a reprimand, she said. Since he will no longer be a cadet, he will not be eligible to live on base or earn pay.
Pitvorec issued Misukanis a reprimand in her sentencing that will be part of the official record. She did not explain her decision.
Misukanis enlisted in the Air Force in 2018 and excelled at his first assignment in Germany where he worked in airplane fueling.
His success there led to his acceptance into Air Force Academy’s Preparatory School and then the Academy.
While in school, he maintained a GPA above a 3.0 and his professors spoke highly of him, said Capt. Meaghan McHenry, his defense attorney.
The 23-year-old had hoped to become a pilot, he said in his sentencing statement.
Now he hopes to seek out “something that challenges me even more,” he said.
First published on Colorado Spring Gazette
In other cadet news:
Air Force Academy cadet found not guilty in sexual assault case (Colorado Springs Gazette, 27 SEP 23)
A military judge found an Air Force Academy cadet not guilty of sexual assault charges on Wednesday in a three-day court-martial.
Cadet Eamon McHugh was facing allegations of assaulting a fellow cadet on May 16, 2021 while vacationing at a rental house in Tabernash, located in northwestern Colorado.
Judge Lt. Col. Bradley Palmer pronounced McHugh not guilty after a little more than two-hour break to review the evidence.
McHugh and the woman were part of a group of 10 cadets who were celebrating receiving their class rings during a ceremony their junior year.
The cadets started drinking in the afternoon and the party continued with a bonfire in the evening.
McHugh and the female cadet started kissing around the bonfire and then went into a bedroom.
Private attorney Lance Wood, who defended McHugh, pointed out several times in his closing statements Wednesday it’s unknown whether the woman consented to the sexual exchange in the bedroom because she was blackout drunk.
McHugh’s memory of the night was fragmented, lawyers said. . . . (read more)
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