WHO IS ANTHONY SANTUCCI

Our son, Anthony Santucci, has wanted to go into the military since he was a small boy. His father was in the Army, three of his uncles were in the Marines and one was in the Air Force. As a small child, he was always playing “army.” His grandfather gave him a pair of camouflage overalls that I mended to fit him. He also made a wooden rifle and mounted a scope on it. Anthony was around 8 years old at that time. He has been jumping out of, and off of, things since he was 2 years old.

 

We should have known that one day he would be jumping out of airplanes. As he was preparing to graduate from high school, he spoke with the Army recruiters who were at his school. They tried to convince him to enter the Army immediately after graduation. However, Anthony wanted to be in the airborne infantry. There were no openings at that time. The recruiter told him to enlist and then when an opening became available, he could switch to it. Anthony did not want to do that as he felt that he may never get into the airborne infantry even if an opening became available. He waited a whole year, working at a couple of jobs, before there was an opening.

THE AIRBORNE INFANTRY

He was so excited to finally be on his way to living his dream; being a paratrooper in the airborne infantry!! He went to Fort Benning, GA for boot camp and stayed there for airborne training. He was stationed at Ft. Polk, LA. He was involved with the training of those soldiers who were going to be deployed. He would go out in the field for a month at a time, participating in war games that would get these men ready for deployment. He loved his job in the Army. His only issue was that he wanted to be deployed to help protect his country. Unfortunately, that was not to be.

THE PARADISE BAR

In July of 2013, he went to a local bar, The Paradise Bar, with several friends. It was a Saturday night, and this was the routine Saturday night activity. While at the bar, a woman approached him. She asked if she could sit down next to him and they struck up a conversation. She stated that she was separated from her husband and getting a divorce. They bought each other drinks and danced. At one point, she was seen rubbing his crotch with her hand. They were also kissing on the dance floor. She asked him if he “wanted to go back to his room to play.” He agreed and they left the bar in her vehicle. They went to his barracks and had consensual sex. At one point, they stopped and went to the bathroom. When they were done, he asked her if she wanted to continue having sex and she said yes, consenting for a second time.

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Upon completion of the intimacy, Anthony asked her for her phone number. She said she could not give it to him, as she shared it with her husband. She kissed him goodbye, walked down the stairs to her car and drove home. When she got home, she took 2 types of medications that cause hysteria if mixed with alcohol. (The forensic toxicologist testified to this during the court-martial). She called 911 and was hysterical stating that she wanted the morning after pill and an STD test. She repeatedly told the operator that she could not have any more children. . She said she could not have any more children. (She had 4 children at the time, the youngest being 6 months old.) The operator kept asking her if she was assaulted if the perpetrator was still there. Her answer was always,” I want the morning-after pill." 

 

Finally, with persistence from the operator asking her if she was assaulted, she said yes and that she wanted the morning after pill. The police and ambulance went to her house. She told them that she did not know what bar she was at or who she was with at the bar. How is it possible for her to not remember what bar she was at? In order for that to be true, she would have to have been blackout drunk before she even got to the bar, then, when she got there, continued drinking with Anthony until 2 am. She would have been in a highly noticeable state of intoxication to say the least, which of course she was not. The forensic toxicologist also testified at trial that generally, in order to be in a blackout state, a person's blood alcohol content has to be between .18 and .20. From evidence revealed later at trial, we know that her blood alcohol content couldn't have been that high that early in the night.

 

So, why would she say that she did not know what bar she was at? Could it be that she initially did not want to steer the investigators in Anthony's direction and get him in trouble for something he did not do?

 

At the hospital, she recieved the morning after pill and an STD test. Even though she was already allowing them to swab for STDs, she refused to let them take a single DNA swab, which is how they identify the "perpetrator" in these cases. Why? If you were just sexually assaulted and didn't know who did it, wouldn't you want to find out?

 

THE ARMY INVESTIGATES

CID (the army investigators) began searching for the “perpetrator”. They looked at pictures from the bars in the area and found pictures of her and Anthony, dancing and sitting together. They questioned Anthony and he admitted to having consensual sex and denied any sexual assault/rape. He asked to take a lie detector test, but it was denied. He was told it could not be used during the trial anyway. He continued working his regular duties at Ft. Polk.

 

Then on 3/21/14, he was court-martialed. He had a military defense attorney. He did not tell us about the charges until 2 weeks before the court-martial. He said he did not want to worry us and that his military attorney had told him that there was no evidence to support the sexual assault/rape and the most time he would get would be for the adultery (which is a crime in the military) even though he was not married. He said the penalty could be up to 1 year in jail, but he would likely get only 8 months.

 

There was no investigation done on Anthony’s behalf i.e. interviewing her neighbors, getting the name of the person she was on the phone with when the ambulance arrived and interviewing them, obtaining all camera images on base, no review of more images from the bar prior to and after the “sexual assault.” 

 

She had an undeniable motive to lie. She did not want to get in trouble with her husband who she admitted beat her several times in the past, she needed an excuse as to how she got hickies on her neck. She was willing to lie and tell her husband she was going out to buy a candy bar instead of the truth i.e. she was going to the paradise bar. She even went so far as to suggest that the only reason she drove Anthony back to his barracks room was as a courtesy because he needed a designated driver of all things! This of course makes no sense because she had been drinking. She wasn’t anybody’s designated driver! She and Anthony actually had the same amount to drink, yet we are supposed to believe that she was his designated driver?

PRISON

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The court-martial took 2 days. At around 10 pm on 3/22/14, Anthony called us and said he had been found guilty of sexual assault/rape and they sentenced him to 20 years in prison at Fort Leavenworth, KS. We thought he was joking, but he said it was true and they were there to take him to jail. That was the extent of our conversation. We were devastated and distraught. We stayed in our bedroom, did not get dressed or shower, for 3 days.

 

Then we got MAD!!!

 

We knew our son would not do this. He has always been a kind and honest boy and turned into a kind and honest man. He loved his nieces and nephew and they thought he was the greatest! He would often be seen helping our 80-year-old neighbor with raking leaves or shoveling her snow. Everybody loved him! His classmates referred to him as “tooch.” Everyone knew him. When we were out shopping etc., frequently we would hear someone yell “tooch.” 

 

Many times, he did not know them, but they knew him. We want to let you know that we have never been the type of parents that stand up for our children in the face of accusations, no matter what. If, after reading the record of the trial, we thought that Anthony was guilty, we would have been heartbroken, but we would know that he is right where he belongs. We obtained the record of trial and were appalled at what we read.

 

We have watched enough Law and Order type shows that we could have put on a better defense than his military attorney! On cross-examination of the “victim” and her husband, he basically went over everything they already testified to, thus cementing it in the minds of the jurors. Speaking of jurors, in the civilian system, they are to be a jury of your peers. However, in the military system, this is not true.

 

Anthony’s jury consisted of 4 people who had someone close to them that was sexually assaulted, 3 were in the same chain of command and one had the prosecutor representing him in another legal matter. Anthony’s military attorney could have objected and had them removed from the jury, he did not. The prosecution objected to one juror who did not believe in the morning after pill, so he was struck from the jury.

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Not only was the case against Anthony lacking enough evidence to even come close to proving guilt, but both the judge and the prosecutor knowing this, actually lowered the standard of proof to make it easier for the jury to convict Anthony. They did this by allowing the jury to convict Anthony on a “preponderance of the evidence”. This means that all the jury had to do to find Anthony guilty was determine that there was just a 51% probability that he committed the alleged offense. It is illegal for the government to use this standard of proof at a criminal trial where the constitutionally required standard is guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt” which is closer to a 99% probability. (The Armed Forces Court of Appeals later agreed that diluting the burden of proof like this was indeed unlawful but stated that it was just a “harmless error” and refused to grant Anthony any form of relief.)

We began searching the Facebook page of the bar that Anthony was at when he met this woman. We saw the pictures of them together. Then we found something else: A picture of her at the same bar, with 2 men, neither of whom were her husband, 20 days after the alleged sexual assault/rape. She was drinking what looked like hard liquor. (during the trial, she and her husband testified that she could barely leave her house because she was so traumatized by the alleged sexual assault/rape and that she did not drink, only an occasional glass of wine.)

 

We looked at her Facebook page. In September 2013, just two months after the supposed sexual assault/rape, her Facebook page said she was in a relationship with a man from her hometown. His Facebook page confirmed it. Then, in October 2013, she moved back to her hometown and in with this new boyfriend.

 

This is important because, at the trial, she and her husband testified that she was so anxious and afraid to be on base after the “sexual assault/rape” that she had to move back to their hometown and took their 4 children with her, thus breaking up their family. None of this was presented at the court-martial because there was absolutely no investigation done on Anthony’s behalf. The only investigation that was done was by CID to ensure a guilty verdict. We hired a civilian attorney and local investigator immediately.

 

Unfortunately, the issues that we found after the court-martial were not allowed into the appeals because they were not presented at trial. Only things presented at trial or trial errors can be considered on appeal. Our first attorney and the investigator did not do much. The first appeal was only 5 pages long. We immediately fired the attorney and hired a new civilian attorney and investigator. He wrote an addendum to the appeal.

 

The second investigator talked a good game, but she never did any investigation at all. We asked her to speak with the 2 men at the bar in the pictures 20 days after the incident. She did not, nor did she do any investigation at all, but had no problem taking our money. Anthony lost that appeal and the second one likely because none of the new evidence that we found
was allowed in the appeal.

We now have a new attorney, who is on top of everything. His name is John Maher. He and his legal team along with their investigator have begun working on this case. The Habeas Corpus was filed in June 2019. We are hoping that this process will bring Justice for Anthony.

 

PASSING THE POLYGRAPH WITH FLYING COLORS

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In November 2019, Anthony was finally able to take the polygraph test that he wanted to take when he was first accused. The polygraph examiner who administered the test has 44 years of experience to include providing his services to the department of defense, NCIS, the Fort Worth police department to name a few. Anthony passed with flying colors. There was absolutely no deception found.

 

He was 22 years old when he was convicted and sent to Ft. Leavenworth. He just had his 28th birthday, his 6th behind bars!
This is how the Military Justice System treats our soldiers. Because, in the past, they had been sweeping sexual assault/rape under the rug and got caught, they now have swung too far in the other direction. If you are accused of sexual assault/rape in the Military, you will likely be convicted. The military standard is Guilty until Proven Innocent!!!

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We have spoken with several people in law enforcement who are aware of the facts of this case. We were told that this would never have gone to court in the civilian system. We try and visit Anthony every other month. We live in Ohio, so it is a bit of a trek to Ft. Leavenworth. We have drained our savings, Anthony’s savings and sold his car to fight for his release. During our visits, we have spoken to many other families with shockingly similar stories. Many of these young men are in their early 20’s and 30’s.

 

Now, we are not naive enough to think that they are all innocent. However, when you start hearing these stories and actually looking at the legal documents, there is a definite pattern! These soldiers are being railroaded due to political influence and to send a message. This MUST be stopped! There are other families who cannot afford a good civilian attorney or to visit their loved one. They do not have money to send their loved ones for phone calls or to buy things from the Leavenworth store.

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Anthony is a strong young man with a great attitude, despite everything he has been through. He has been studying and taking classes. He works out regularly and has a job in the prison. It only pays $47/month, but he is saving every dime. He has asked us to get get Freeourwarriors.org up and running with the purpose of obtaining justice, not only for him but many other innocent soldiers as well. His main objective is to effect change in the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

Imagine if this happened to someone you love. What would you do? Every gift of $25, $50, $75, $100 - or any amount that is right for you, will make a difference in getting these innocent soldiers home to their families. Every day that passes is another day a military family cannot sit around the same dinner table and say grace together. YOU can help our warriors fight these legal battles.

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                                                   SEND A GIFT TO FREE OUR WARRIORS NOW AND BREAK THE CYCLE!!