Ex-US Army lawyer jailed for destroying DoD materials

Manfredo Martin-Michael Madrigal III was also found guilty of lying about contacting the Russian embassy in Washington DC

A former US Army officer and attorney has been sentenced to 54 months in federal prison for willfully deleting army materials during what he claimed was a PTSD-related bout of alcoholism.

Manfredo Martin-Michael Madrigal III has been sentenced to a federal US prison for willfully deleting army materials, the Department of Justice has announced. The 38-year-old also lied to the authorities about contacting a foreign national, despite having previously called the Russian embassy in Washington DC. 

Madrigal was reportedly assigned in February 2022 to the US Army Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Legal Center and School, where he developed training materials. Before his assignment to the JAG School, Madrigal served overseas on sensitive operations as an enlisted paratrooper with the US 82nd Airborne Division.

He had already been placed under scrutiny, having failed to report a previous arrest for driving under the influence. While the investigation into his omission was underway, days after he began work at JAG, he maliciously deleted training materials and filmed himself in the process.

Court documents cited by Military Times describe a profanity-laden video in which Madrigal criticized the US Army, saying, “you thought you could easily remove me?” The disgruntled officer then sent the footage to his former romantic partner, who was also a service member. 

Madrigal then placed a two-minute call to the Russian Embassy in Washington DC, telling his ex-girlfriend, “I am going to teach them a lesson… Russia has reached out to me,” according to court documents. Later on, he claimed to the same woman that the Russians “would like to know what I know.” 

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Madrigal was discharged from the JAG School on February 22, 2022. He stated in his exit paperwork that he had no unreported contact with foreign nationals and repeated this claim to the FBI months later.

In August 2022, Madrigal was arrested on cyberstalking charges related to his harassment of an ex-partner. He was later indicted on multiple counts, including willfully injuring US property and making false statements. In July 2024, he pleaded guilty to four charges.

Madrigal’s attorney, John N. Maher, argued that the destroyed materials were “benign and redundant electronic PowerPoint slides.”