US Navy SEAL pleads guilty to role in hazing death of Green Beret

NORFOLK: A US Navy SEAL pleaded guilty Thursday to involuntary manslaughter for his role in the hazing death of a US Army Green Beret while the men were stationed in Africa. Chief Petty Officer Tony DeDolph, a member of the elite SEAL Team 6, also offered a detailed account of the night in which he and other service members initiated a prank known as a "tape job" on Army Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar.

DeDolph told a military judge that the men were trying to teach Melgar a lesson over perceived slights while they served in Mali in 2017. But the SEAL said they were soon "in a state of shock and deeply disturbed" after the duct-tape-bound Melgar remained unresponsive for several minutes.

DeDolph said his role in the prank was to cause Melgar to temporarily lose consciousness by placing him in a martial-arts-style chokehold. DeDolph said the "rear naked choke" restricts blood flow in the neck and is used in the military.


"I effectively applied the chokehold as I have done numerous times in training, with combatants and has been done to me," DeDolph said.

Melgar lost consciousness in about 10 seconds, but failed to wake up after the typical 30 seconds, the SEAL said.

"Usually by that time, the individual has gotten up," DeDolph said. "And he did not."

DeDolph pleaded guilty inside a military courtroom at a Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia. He is the third of four U.S. service members - two SEALs and two Marines - to face a court martial for the death of Melgar, a Texas native.