Movie creator charged

By Jake Palmateer

Staff Writer

ONEONTA _ An Oneonta man who helped produce a 9/11 conspiracy documentary that became an Internet hit was arrested Monday for allegedly deserting the Army.

Korey Rowe, 24, a veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq, was picked up by deputies at about 10:45 p.m. Monday, Otsego County Sheriff Richard Devlin Jr. said.

Rowe, along with Dylan Avery and Jason Bermas, are members of Louder Than Words, a production company that is working on a third edition of the movie "Loose Change," which contends the U.S. government was involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. That edition is intended to be a theatrical release.

Rowe and the other members of Louder Than Words have appeared on radio shows including The Alex Jones Show and have been mentioned in Time magazine. Vanity Fair magazine published a feature story on the group last August.

Since 2002, Rowe was interviewed by The Daily Star several times about "Loose Change" and his experiences in the military.

"We developed information that he was at a county Route 47 residence in Oneonta last night," Devlin said Tuesday.

Rowe was arrested on a "military warrant" that Devlin said was brought to the attention of deputies by the Oneonta Police Department, who received information from a source outside of that department.

Rowe was living at the Route 47 home, Devlin said.

City police officials who were able to comment on the case were unavailable Tuesday night.

After deputies received the information from Oneonta police, they reached out to the Army, and officials from Fort Knox faxed a copy of the warrant, deputies said.

Rowe previously told The Daily Star he enlisted in August 2001. He left the Army in June 2005, according to the Louder Than Words website.

He is being held without bail in the Otsego County jail and is waiting to be picked up by U.S. Army officials, Devlin said.

The Associated Press reported last month that deserters are rarely court-martialed by the Army.

Although 3,301 soldiers deserted in the 2006 fiscal year, there were just 174 troops court-martialed.

The AP report said some deserters are returned to their units, while others are discharged in non-criminal proceedings.

Desertion rates have been rising since 2004, but the Army does little to seek out deserters and instead relies on a database that can be cross-checked by local law-enforcement agencies during encounters such as traffic stops, the report states.

The Department of Defense public-affairs office did not immediately return a call for comment Tuesday.

A woman who answered Rowe’s cell phone Tuesday and identified herself only as Kristy said Rowe was "taken" from a house Monday night.

The Louder Than Words website lists a Kristy Kissner as an administrative assistant for the group.

"All we know is that he has been arrested," the woman said. "We know nothing. We just hope that whatever happened comes out."

Rowe’s parents did not immediately return a message left Tuesday.

In media interviews, Rowe has criticized the Iraq war and the Bush administration.

Desertion is defined under Article 85 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice as being when a soldier leaves his or her unit or place of duty with the intent to remain away from there permanently or quits his or her unit with the intent to avoid hazardous duty. It is considered a felony.