Investigators have completed their probe into a technical sergeant's rise to the highest enlisted rank following his 2006 conviction and six-month jail sentence, an Air Force spokesman said Monday.

The investigation report could be delivered as early as this week to 502nd Air Base Wing Commander Brig. Gen. Robert Labrutta, who six weeks ago directed the service's investigative branch to review the circumstances surrounding Chief Master Sgt. Eric Soluri's conviction and the subsequent actions by the Air Force.

Labrutta "will review the facts to determine if misconduct occurred and, as necessary, take appropriate actions," Air Education and Training command spokesman Col. Sean McKenna said. Soluri's case was the subject of a Nov. 3 Air Force Times cover story.

Soluri was an enlisted accessions recruiter in Waltham, Massachusetts, when he was accused of assaulting his then-girlfriend in 2004. When the case went to trial two years later, a jury convicted Soluri of threatening to commit a crime, a misdemeanor. He received a six-month jail sentence, of which he served 14 days, and was court-ordered to attend a batterer's intervention program.

That disposition should have ended Soluri's Air Force career. Airmen are subject to discharge when they are sentenced to six months or more, regardless of whether the time is suspended. And airmen with five or more days of "lost time" — when they are unavailable for duty — cannot re-enlist without a waiver from a unit commander, according to Air Force instruction. Soluri had more than twice that.

Yet his career flourished; in June 2007, months after he walked out of jail, Soluri was selected for promotion to master sergeant. He continued a quick climb up the ranks, pinning on chief in December 2013 while serving as security forces manager for the 802nd Security Forces Squadron at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.

Then this October — eight years after his conviction — Soluri's chain of command was tipped off about the 2006 conviction. LaBrutta ordered Soluri, who at the time was in Afghanistan, back to Texas, where he was reassigned to wing headquarters at Fort Sam Houston pending the outcome of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations probe.

OSI was directed to review all details of the case, including "allegations associated with subsequent accountability actions taken by Air Force officials," McKenna said.

Air Force regulations "broadly cover commanders' responsibilities to act on negative information that relate to an Airman's conduct," McKenna said in an email. "Although it isn't always obligatory, there is a general expectation of commanders and senior raters to report up their chain of command to an appropriate level. Military members must adhere to the highest standards of professionalism, including holding each other accountable. The AFOSI investigation is looking into all details in the case, to include information relating to the accountability actions taken after the conviction."

Soluri did not respond to an email request for comment. He declined comment through his base leadership, McKenna said.

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