A National Guardsman convicted of sexually abusing a child on military property has requested that the judge delay his sentence hearing so he can collect his military pension.

Any military member who devotes 20 years to service is entitled to a pension. If a military retiree is convicted of a felony (like, say, a sex crime) after hitting that 20 year mark, they will still receive payments while in prison. Getting kicked out of the military right before that cutoff, however, will leave that ex-military member high and dry.

Wyoming Army National Guardsman Lt. Timothy Wells, who just convicted of sexually exploiting a child at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, is supposed to finally qualify for his pension in March 2016. Though Wells is facing a 16-year sentence in federal prison for his crimes, his lawyer argues that the pension money will help support his wife and children.

“Mr. Wells, as this court is aware, is a member of the armed services,” public defender Jim Barrett wrote. “He is a matter of months away from obtaining his twenty year retirement. If released, Mr. Wells could serve the necessary number of days to procure retirement. This is expected to be completed by late March, 2016. Mr. Wells desires release to obtain this retirement in order to fulfill his financial obligations to his family while he is incarcerated.”

The prosecutor Thomas Szott disagrees.

“If his crimes have in fact cost him his twenty-year retirement, he must bear that loss as a consequence of the choices he made. His detention pending sentencing remains appropriate,” Szott wrote.

Szott also spoke with the Wyoming Army National Guard and found that Wells might receive his pension regardless of whether he is in prison or not. If Wells is discharged before March 2016, avoiding prison is a moot point.