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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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February 18th,
2007 - Marine Gets 8 Years in Iraqi Killing |
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Marine Gets 8 Years in Iraqi
Killing The Associated Press Sunday, February 18, 2007; 4:17 AM Camp Pendleton, Calif. - A
Marine who said he never fired a shot in the kidnapping and murder of an
Iraqi man was sentenced Saturday to 8 years in military prison - the longest
sentence yet in the case. Lance Cpl. Robert B.
Pennington, 22, also was reduced in rank and given a dishonorable discharge
during the sentencing hearing at the Camp Pendleton Marine base. Pennington was part of an
eight-member squad accused of kidnapping and killing Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52,
last April in the Iraqi town of Hamdania. Investigators said the Marines
dragged Awad from his home, shot him, and then planted an AK-47 and a shovel by
his body to make it look like he was an insurgent planting a bomb. Pennington, the squad's
radio operator, testified at his court-martial that he did not shoot Awad but
said he helped force the man into a roadside hole and held his hand over his
mouth. "It's been an emotional
roller coaster," Pennington's mother, Deanna Pennington, said after the
sentencing. "Bobby died in Fallujah. I want to bring him back." The Marine from Mukilteo,
Wash., pleaded guilty Tuesday to kidnapping and conspiracy. Murder, larceny
and housebreaking charges will be dismissed if he completes terms of a plea
bargain requiring him to testify for the government and remain on good
behavior. Pennington was the sixth
member of the squad to plead guilty in the case, though one of those troops
withdrew his plea ahead of his sentencing. He was sentenced to a total
of 14 years - but the military judge suspended six years and gave him credit
for more than a year he has already served. The sentence will be
automatically reviewed by a military appeals court. Pennington's civilian
attorney, David Brahms, said he will try to have the sentence commuted. © 2007 The Associated Press External link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/18/AR2007021800169.html |