Despite recanting his original concerns and asking the jury for leniency, Lakin was found guilty of all charges and sentenced to dismissal from the Army, loss of pay and allowances, and a prison term of six months.

[7] After the 2008 election of Barack Obama, Lakin fruitlessly attempted to personally certify the president's constitutional eligibility for the office through his congressional representatives[7] and his military chain of command.

"[7] Assigned to the DiLorenzo TRICARE Health Clinic (a constituent command of Joint Task Force National Capital Region Medical),[3] then-Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Lakin had orders to report to Fort Campbell, Kentucky on 12 April 2010,[8] for his second deployment to Afghanistan.

[12] After researching what options were open to him, Lakin approached the American Patriot Foundation, Inc. (APF)[3] with his idea for a video wherein he would explain his reasons for intending to disobey orders.

[11] Hemenway, speaking for the APF to Salon, repeatedly claimed that President Obama hadn't even released the same birth certificate Lakin had to give the military.

[3][13] Prior to 12 April, Army officials stated they were aware of Lakin's intent to "violate articles 87 and 92 of [the] Uniform Code of Military Justice", but until he did so they had nothing further upon which to comment.

After being Mirandized[8] and informed by his commanding officer—Colonel Gordon Ray Roberts—that he would face court-martial, Lakin's Pentagon access badge and governmental laptop were confiscated.

[10] Pending his court-martial, Lakin was assigned to duty at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.[8] Salon contributor Alex Koppelman noted that LTC Lakin was not the first US military member to "become a birther cause celebre", indicating the cases of Major Stefan F. Cook (Cook v. Good) and Captain Connie Rhodes (Rhodes v. MacDonald).

[13] Chris Lawrence, CNN's Pentagon correspondent, noted in August 2010 that an Opinion Research Corporation poll showed that 27% of "Americans think President Obama probably or definitely was not born in the United States."

"[5] When contacted by the Greeley Tribune in spring 2010, Lakin's father—Frank Lakin—said that his son's video "does not reflect the opinions or the attitude of the family by any means […] We're Obama supporters.

"[13] Jelani Cobb with The New Yorker reported in 2016 that then-Congressional Representative Tom Price spoke about Lakin in 2009/2010, saying that the lientenant-colonel had raised salient questions about President Obama's eligibility for office.

[21] After Lind's ruling, defendant Lakin dismissed defense attorney Jensen, going on to hire retired United States Marine Corps Colonel Neal Puckett as counsel.

Puckett disagreed with Lakin's tack of approaching his constitutional misgivings by disobeying orders, but felt that his client's decision was "a courageous act of civil disobedience" nonetheless.

As to missing movement, Puckett argued that Lakin's orders did not specifically require the surgeon to fly, and that he could have opted to "choose an alternate method of travel.

After five hours of deliberation,[26][27] the jury sentenced him to six months in a military prison, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and dismissal from the Army (the officer equivalent to a dishonorable discharge).

[29] On 28 July 2011, the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals granted Lakin's request to withdraw his case from appellate review.

[35] In early 2017, Michael Miner with the Chicago Reader spoke with Marco Ciavolino, a close friend of Lakin and editor of the onetime lieutenant-colonel's 2012 book.