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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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April 19th,
2008 - Two Years After a Killing in Hamdania |
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Two Years After a Killing in
Hamdania By Teri Figueroa North County Times April 19, 2008 Two years after killing the
neighbor of a suspected insurgent in the Iraqi village of Hamdania, seven of
the eight Camp Pendleton troops who were found guilty of crimes related to
the incident walk free. Four are still in uniform,
and one of that group is back serving in Iraq. For all but one of the men,
it's been a long journey from the jail shackles and premeditated murder
charges that once confronted the group whose supporters dubbed them the
"Pendleton 8." The only man who remains
jailed is former Sgt. Larry Hutchins III. Hutchins is serving a 15-year
sentence after being convicted by a military jury of leading the squad from
Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment in the killing. Hutchins' father, also named
Larry Hutchins, said during a telephone interview last week that he has
mortgaged his house to pay for his son's defense and the continuing efforts
to win his freedom. The elder Hutchins, who
lives in Massachusetts, said he spends his days worrying about his son and
doing what he can to lobby for clemency. "There's not a day that
goes by that we don't think about it," he said. Leanne Magincalda,
stepmother of one of the men, said in an e-mail that the lives of the troops
and their families have been "altered irreversibly by this case,"
and she pointed to financial and emotional distress. Carrying out the plan It was two years ago that
the seven Marines and the Navy medic assigned to their squad sat in a palm
tree grove in the Anbar province village and agreed to a plan, according to
court testimony. The plan was this, the
testimony revealed: Seize a man widely believed to be an insurgent, kill him
and then stage the scene to cover it up. Lie about it when other Marines come
around to investigate. Hours later, after 2 a.m. on
April 26, 2006, they carried out the plot, the court testimony showed. Four of the eight, Marines
Trent Thomas, Marshall Magincalda, Robert Pennington and the medic, Melson
Bacos, went to find their original target. When they discovered that man
wasn't home, they grabbed his neighbor, a father of 11 later identified as
Hashim Ibrahim Awad, several of the men testified during court hearings. They hustled Awad down a
road to a crater left by a roadside bomb. They tossed him in and tied him up
as he fought back, according to the testimony. Then the four troops cleared
out of the way. The other Marines lined up
and Hutchins gave the command to fire, according to the testimony. After
Hutchins confirmed Awad was dead by shooting him twice more in the head, a
shovel and an AK-47 were placed next to his body to make it appear he was
planting a roadside bomb. When Awad's family
complained, an investigation was launched. Within days, the eight men were
put on a plane out of Iraq. Hours after arriving back at
Camp Pendleton, the men were jailed in the base brig in individual cells and
shackled when released to meet with attorneys or to be led to an exercise
area. Awad's death came on the
heels of tough questions raised about a deadly assault in the Iraqi city of
Haditha just months earlier, in which 24 Iraqis, many of them women and children,
were shot to death by a different group of local Marines in November 2005. The Marine Corps was under
fire for not investigating the Haditha deaths more thoroughly. Then Awad was
killed. The allegations of what
happened in Hamdania and the jailing of the eight young men put them in an
international spotlight. Supporters routinely rallied at the base's main
gate, demanding they be released and arguing the incident was a battlefield
killing and not a crime. Automatic appeals Within months, five of the
accused men - members of the 2nd platoon of Kilo Company - pleaded guilty to
a variety of reduced charges related to the killing. The three who held out
for trial were convicted. The juries that convicted
two of the men also ruled they should be released from custody. Juries in
military court, not judges, decide the punishment for anyone they convict. Except for Hutchins, none of
the eight served more than 15 months behind bars, thanks to a combination of
clemency and the plea deals resulting in short sentences. By early August 2007, seven
were free. Their cases, however, are not over. Each has been subject to
review by Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland, commander of the I Marine Expeditionary
Force at Camp Pendleton and head of Marine Corps Forces in the Middle East. Earlier this month, Helland
met with Hutchins' family members and attorneys who continue to seek his
release or a reduction in his sentence. As the convening authority
over the case, Helland decides whether to accept the punishments handed down
by the courts or grant clemency. A final decision from Helland on each man's
case has not yet been announced. Meanwhile, chatter over
Hamdania continues off the Marine base with Internet stories and blogs
calling into question all aspects of the investigation and the evidence. Moving on In the swirl of it all, most
of the accused are moving on. Some of the men didn't have
to leave the service. When it came time for sentencing, most told the court
they didn't want a discharge. John "J.J." Jodka
of Encinitas, Tyler Jackson and Bacos remain on active duty at Camp
Pendleton, according to Marine Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Sean Gibson. All are
working out of Headquarters Battalion, 1st Marine Division. Jerry Shumate also is on
active duty and has been back in Iraq since January. His job description
there was not immediately available, Gibson said. Magincalda was given a
general discharge under honorable conditions and has left the service, Gibson
said. Two of the men - Thomas and
Pennington - are in a sort of limbo, not officially out of the Marine Corps
but not working for or getting paid by the service as their cases work
through the review and appellate process. A discharge was part of their
sentence, and both are on unpaid leave pending further court action, Gibson
said. Erica Thomas, the wife of
Trent Thomas, who was allowed to withdraw a guilty plea and was ultimately
convicted by a jury, said in an e-mail that her family is doing well. The
couple, who now live in San Bernardino County, have a preschooler and an
infant. And Pennington, who also is
living in Southern California, is OK and "figuring out how to live after
being on active duty for five years," said his attorney, Carlsbad's
David Brahms. "He's got his head screwed on straight. He's bright,
talented and charming beyond belief." External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/04/20/news/sandiego/601afca2c430c3be8825742f0062ce35.txt |