Sentencing delayed for Air Force reservist guilty of sex crime on base

Prosecutors want 7-year sentence for Kyle Jordan; his attorneys argue for probation.

Federal prosecutors want an Air Force reservist to spend more than seven years in prison for having sex with an unconscious woman he supervised at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Kyle Jordan, 31, an Air Force veteran who served in Iraq and Korea and one-time Butler County corrections officer, was to be sentenced Thursday in Dayton’s U.S. District Court. The judge pushed back sentencing after an in-chambers conference. U.S. District Judge Walter Rice did not explain why sentencing was delayed.

Rice scheduled a telephone conference for June 8, at which time he said a new sentencing date would be determined. Jordan has been on electronic home monitoring for nearly a year and a half.

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Jordan pleaded guilty in January to sexual abuse in exchange for other charges to be dismissed. The plea deal capped Jordan’s potential sentence at 87 months — or 7 years and 3 months — for a charge that has a statutory sentencing range of zero years to life in prison. Jordan’s non-binding advisory sentencing range was calculated at 87 to 108 months.

Prosecutors said Jordan had sex with a woman “who was incapable of appraising the nature of the conduct” after a night of heavy drinking during a Christmas party in December 2015.

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The prosecutors’ sentencing memorandum argued Jordan deserves that term of imprisonment because he had a position of authority over the woman, he lied to Air Force investigators and then obstructed justice by asking a friend to lie about where Jordan slept and then asked that friend to delete his text request.

In their sentencing memo, defense attorneys wrote that Jordan initially denied he had sex with the woman because “extreme intoxication” led to Jordan’s memory loss about the event. Jordan admitted to the crime after confronted with his DNA evidence, the memo said.

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Jordan’s attorneys also said that while he did ask a friend to lie about where he stayed the night, he didn’t know what he had done, but did know that “he woke up in a hotel with a young girl in his Unit and no one else was there, which would certainly not look good to Defendant’s 9-month-pregnant wife who was elsewhere that night.”

The attorneys said that while Jordan did ask a friend to lie, “it strongly appears here that Kyle was attempting to cover up an overnight situation that looked bad (he and another woman alone in a hotel) instead of covering up a rape.”

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Defense attorneys said three alleged sexual assault victims of Jordan’s should be ignored at sentencing because of their “irrelevance, benignity, and complete lack of corroboration.” Jordan was not charged in any other case.

Jordan’s attorneys wrote that their client has exhibited model behavior on pretrial home detention, he has stopped heavy alcohol use, is a veteran, a good father of 9- and 1-year-old sons and has employment lined up if he receives probation instead of prison.

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The defense attorneys included 19 letters of support from Jordan’s family and friends. The mother of his 9-year-old asked for mercy.

Friends and relatives pointed to Jordan’s 12 years of military service, honorable discharge, parenting skills, work ethic, loyalty and high character as reasons Jordan shouldn’t receive a long sentence.

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