A Florida Air National Guard colonel who was found guilty in October of soliciting a minor for sex has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Col. Michael Shawn Garrett on Thursday also was sentenced to 10 years supervised release after serving his prison sentence, Panama City Beach Police Department spokesman Lt. J.R. Talamantez said. Garrett’s sentencing was first reported by Panama City Beach television station WJHG.
Garrett had been on supervised release but was taken into custody after the sentencing, Talamantez said.
Will Manley, a spokesman for the Florida National Guard, said Garrett is now on non-duty status. Now that he has been sentenced, Manley said the Guard will likely begin disciplinary actions against him, including discharge.
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Garrett, who was chief of combat operations for the 101st Air and Space Operations Group at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, was convicted of solicitation and of traveling to meet a minor for sex.
The Panama City Beach Police Department said in a Facebook post last May that Garrett solicited sex online from a police officer who was posing as a 14-year-old boy. He showed up at what he thought was the boy’s home, where he was arrested, police said.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
