Yes, but that guilty plea had nothing to do with preserving the birther defense on appeal. It has to do primarily with complicating issues that relevant case law creates for the prosecution vis-a-vis Art. 87 and civilian transportation. IOW, because it's a civilian transport and not a military transport, there are some procedural hurdles for the government to clear before they can get a guilty verdict. Lakin's team is wise to make the government try to step over those precedential challenges.