Marine Lance Hering accepts plea for disappearing act

Marine Lance Hering so didn't want to return to duty back in 2006 that he and a friend, Steve Powers, cooked up an elaborate story about his disappearance after injury in a Eldorado Canyon climbing accident. The tale and its aftermath (including his arrest in Washington state several months later),...

By Michael Roberts

October 6, 2009

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Marine Lance Hering so didn't want to return to duty back in 2006 that he and a friend, Steve Powers, cooked up an elaborate story about his disappearance after injury in a Eldorado Canyon climbing accident. The tale and its aftermath (including his arrest in Washington state several months later), told in the 2007 Westword feature "An Uphill Battle," finally has an ending, and it's happier than expected: Yesterday, Hering accepted a plea deal that entails eighteen months of probation, and if he stays out of trouble during that time, the whole matter will be stricken from his record. In addition, Hering will continue mental-health treatment related to a head injury suffered in Iraq -- not during a fictional excursion outside Boulder.

Read "An Uphill Battle" by clicking here.

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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