Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 02/05/2007

Contact person(s):

Media Coordinator, Donna Edwards - 565-3099 Media Spokesperson, Assistant District Attorney Christine Cook Deputy District Attorney David Barkhurst

Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California

MARINE TURNED OVER TO MARINE CORPS FOR COURT-MARTIAL IN DATELINE STING CASE

District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua announced today that Yancy Wallace was released to the custody of the United States Marine Corps’ military police for transportation to Camp Pendleton, where he will face prosecution for charges stemming from the Petaluma Police Department and Dateline NBC sting case as well as for numerous other similar charges.

District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua said, “The Marine Corps asked us to release this defendant into their custody so that they could address all known charges in one criminal proceeding. After ensuring he would remain in custody pending court-martial, we decided that turning Wallace over to the Marine Corps would advance our number one priority of protecting young children from harm.”

Wallace was arrested as a part of the Dateline NBC sting operation conducted in conjunction with the Petaluma Police Department. The Marine Corps intends to court-martial Wallace for the conduct that resulted in his arrest in Petaluma, as well as for allegations involving lewd internet chat conduct in Washington state and possession of numerous images of child pornography discovered on his computer. The potential penalty Wallace faces if convicted of all charges is: 86 years confinement in a federal prison, reduction in rank from sergeant to private, dishonorable discharge from military service, and loss of all pay and allowances.

Deputy District Attorney Juliette Olson was the prosecutor assigned to this case. Detective Hector Altamirano of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department was the lead investigator, and Sgt. Matthew Stapleton of the Petaluma Police Department headed up the sting operation.