The former commander of the U.S. Army Garrison West Point, Col. Anthony Bianchi, was found not guilty on charges related to excessive drinking and driving under the influence — allegations that led to him being fired from his role last summer.
Bianchi was found not guilty on Friday in a Southern District of New York court of driving while intoxicated and disorderly conduct. He was found guilty of not stopping at a stop sign near the entrance of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point campus, and hit with a $150 fine.
“It’s kind of funny, because you can basically say I got relieved of command for not stopping at a stop sign,” Bianchi said in an interview with Military.com.
Read Next: Medal of Honor Recipients Could Get $100,000 Annual Pensions Under Bill Proposed in Congress
A review of court documents shows that military police officers at West Point never pulled Bianchi over, even though he was driving after previously being suspected by authorities to have been drinking.
Instead, authorities waited hours for senior West Point leadership to confront Bianchi, in his home, in private. Only hours after Bianchi had reportedly been drinking, and after he was already home for about two hours, did law enforcement even attempt to give him a breath alcohol test, which he declined.
Bianchi was suspended in July 2023 and subsequently fired the following month from his position as garrison commander by Lt. Gen. Omar Jones, who oversees Army installations. It’s unclear why a civilian court handled Bianchi’s case, given civilian prosecutors have to show a much higher burden of proof than military trials.
“West Point has always held our staff and faculty to high standards, and we follow Army policy and process when we learn of misconduct allegations,” said Col. Terence Kelley, a spokesperson for the academy.
The high-profile relief followed a football alumni event at Eisenhower Hall, a theater and event space on campus, where military police were called in to investigate an alleged disturbance.
That disturbance centered around Bianchi being displeased with a cut of meat he was served and raising complaints with management, though there are conflicting recollections in court documents and sworn statements about whether Bianchi’s objection to his plate was aggressive.
Military police officers arrived on scene just before 9 p.m. Some witnesses described Bianchi as seemingly inebriated, including Sgt. Clayton Jackson, a military police officer dispatched to the scene, according to sworn statements reviewed by Military.com. But authorities interviewed witnesses without incident and left.
At 12:30 a.m., Bianchi drove his government vehicle to West Point’s Thayer Gate. There, he was greeted by Jackson, who said at Bianchi’s trial that he did not believe the officer was intoxicated. A review of security footage showed Bianchi having a conversation with Jackson for about five seconds before continuing to drive through the gate, and also driving past a stop sign.
Shortly after Bianchi went past the gate, Jackson, in his sworn statement, said he remembered earlier in the evening that Bianchi had been drinking, but told the court he “did not have probable cause” to pursue the officer or pull him over.
However, military police and other senior garrison leadership arrived at Bianchi’s home on base just before 3 a.m. Then-Command Sgt. Maj. Michel Fraser and Deputy Garrison Commander Erik Mitchell walked into Bianchi’s home while he was sleeping and confronted him at his bedroom door, court documents show.
The pair brought him outside to military police, who apprehended him. Bianchi was asked to take a breath alcohol test, but only after he had been home for hours, and he refused the test.
Bianchi has filed for retirement.
“The process is the punishment,” Bianchi said. “My family and I have gone through 13 months of embarrassment, 13 months of stress. I’m in this limbo world, both professionally and personally, where I can’t really focus on the next phase of my life.”
Meanwhile, another West Point officer is facing charges related to sexual misconduct, drinking alcohol with cadets and violating a no-contact order with the school’s women’s sports team. Col. William Wright, the director of the academy’s geospatial information science program, was arraigned on nine allegations in June. His trial is set for October.
Related: Marine Sergeant Major Fired from Recruit Depot Was Arrested and Faces NCIS Investigation