Marine Colonel Who Retired in Disgrace Faces New Felony Charges

The former commander of the Marines' Wounded Warrior Regiment who spent two months in the brig last year after driving drunk to his own arraignment is behind bars again, this time as a civilian.

Todd Shane Tomko, 54, was arrested and lodged in the Adams County Jail in Quincy, Illinois Nov. 22 on outstanding warrants from the Virginia Beach Police Department, officials with the jail confirmed to Military.com. The Quincy Herald-Whig, which first published news of Tomko's arrest, reported that he was arrested on seven felony warrants of indecent liberties with a child.

At Tomko's May 2016 court-martial in Quantico, Virginia, his military attorney described him as a broken man, beset by post-traumatic stress after a 33-year career, which included combat tours. He was fired from his post as commanding officer of Quantico's Wounded Warrior Regiment in 2015 amid reports of misconduct including drunkenness at public events and inappropriate relationships with female enlisted subordinates.

He ultimately pleaded guilty to sending inappropriate and exual messages to a female corporal, violating a series of military protective orders at Quantico, obtaining and using testosterone without a prescription, and driving to his May 6, 2016 arraignment with a blood alcohol level of .208.

In all, four active-duty and retired general officers testified for Tomko as character witnesses, including retired Gen. John Kelly, former commander of U.S. Southern Command and now White House chief of staff.

Maj. Gen. James Lukeman, then commanding general of Marine Corps Training and Education Command, said he had hand-selected Tomko to be his chief of staff for operations at 2nd Marine Division in 2013, but ultimately became troubled by the symptoms he exhibited and, at one point, issued his own military protective order, like a restraining order, against him.

"I'm not a doctor, but he's not able to prevent himself from doing these things that he's pleading guilty to," Lukeman said at the court-martial. "I can't imagine it would come to that."

According to an April letter to the editor published in the Herald-Whig, Tomko became the pastor of Parkview Church in Quincy following his forced retirement from the Marine Corps.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.