fontman
08-07-07, 08:25 PM
General cuts sentences of two imprisoned Marines
By Rick Rogers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
5:06 p.m. August 7, 2007
CAMP PENDLETON - A general has cut short the sentences of two Marines imGeneral cuts sentences of two imprisoned Marines
By Rick Rogers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
5:06 p.m. August 7, 2007
CAMP PENDLETON - A general has cut short the sentences of two Marines imprisoned in the Hamdaniya murder case and might do the same for two others.
Pvts. Tyler Jackson and Jerry Shumate Jr. were released Monday by order of Lt. Gen. James Mattis, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton. The base announced Mattis' decision Tuesday.
Jackson and Shumate had been sentenced to 21 months in the brig as part of pretrial deals in which they pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice. They were demoted in rank - from corporal to private.
In exchange, the government dropped the charge of premeditated murder, which would have sent the defendants to prison for life without parole if they were convicted.
Before Mattis released them Monday, Jackson and Shumate were scheduled to leave the brig as early as December.
Mattis took into account various factors, including "their military experience, relative rank and position of authority and their specific involvement" in the Hamdaniya case, according to a statement that Camp Pendleton issued Tuesday.
Jackson, Shumate, five other Marines and a Navy corpsman kidnapped and killed a man in Hamdaniya, Iraq, on April 26, 2006. They snatched the victim from his bed, took him to a roadside hole, bound him and executed him with a barrage of bullets.
Afterward, the squad tried to disguise the killing as a firefight between U.S. troops and an insurgent trying to plant a bomb.
The defendants said they partly wanted to send a message that insurgents and their supporters in Hamdaniya would pay a dear price. They had become frustrated after repeatedly arresting a suspect and turning him over to Iraqi authorities, only to see him released every time.
Five of the defendants finalized plea bargains with the prosecution, receiving prison terms of one to eight years. Four of them - Jackson, Shumate, demoted Pvt. John Jodka III and demoted Hospitalman Melson Bacos - had left prison as of Tuesday.
The remaining Hamdaniya defendants went through courts-martial. Two of them - Cpls. Trent Thomas and Marshall Magincalda - were demoted to the rank of private and released from the brig at the end of their trials. Each had spent about 450 days in prison by then.
That leaves two Hamdaniya defendants still behind bars: Pvts. Robert Pennington and Lawrence Hutchins III. Before the Marine Corps demoted them, Pennington was a coporal and Hutchins was a sergeant.
Pennington is serving an eight-year sentence and Hutchins, who oversaw the Hamdaniya abduction and killing, was sentenced to 15 years last week.
Mattis is considering whether to cut short the prison terms for Pennington and Hutchins, Marine spokesman Lt. Col. Sean Gibson said Tuesday.
Those defendants' attorneys and family members are asking Mattis to reduce the sentences.prisoned in the Hamdaniya murder case and might do the same for two others.
Pvts. Tyler Jackson and Jerry Shumate Jr. were released Monday by order of Lt. Gen. James Mattis, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton. The base announced Mattis' decision Tuesday.
Jackson and Shumate had been sentenced to 21 months in the brig as part of pretrial deals in which they pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice. They were demoted in rank - from corporal to private.
In exchange, the government dropped the charge of premeditated murder, which would have sent the defendants to prison for life without parole if they were convicted.
Before Mattis released them Monday, Jackson and Shumate were scheduled to leave the brig as early as December.
Mattis took into account various factors, including "their military experience, relative rank and position of authority and their specific involvement" in the Hamdaniya case, according to a statement that Camp Pendleton issued Tuesday.
Jackson, Shumate, five other Marines and a Navy corpsman kidnapped and killed a man in Hamdaniya, Iraq, on April 26, 2006. They snatched the victim from his bed, took him to a roadside hole, bound him and executed him with a barrage of bullets.
Afterward, the squad tried to disguise the killing as a firefight between U.S. troops and an insurgent trying to plant a bomb.
The defendants said they partly wanted to send a message that insurgents and their supporters in Hamdaniya would pay a dear price. They had become frustrated after repeatedly arresting a suspect and turning him over to Iraqi authorities, only to see him released every time.
Five of the defendants finalized plea bargains with the prosecution, receiving prison terms of one to eight years. Four of them - Jackson, Shumate, demoted Pvt. John Jodka III and demoted Hospitalman Melson Bacos - had left prison as of Tuesday.
The remaining Hamdaniya defendants went through courts-martial. Two of them - Cpls. Trent Thomas and Marshall Magincalda - were demoted to the rank of private and released from the brig at the end of their trials. Each had spent about 450 days in prison by then.
That leaves two Hamdaniya defendants still behind bars: Pvts. Robert Pennington and Lawrence Hutchins III. Before the Marine Corps demoted them, Pennington was a coporal and Hutchins was a sergeant.
Pennington is serving an eight-year sentence and Hutchins, who oversaw the Hamdaniya abduction and killing, was sentenced to 15 years last week.
Mattis is considering whether to cut short the prison terms for Pennington and Hutchins, Marine spokesman Lt. Col. Sean Gibson said Tuesday.
Those defendants' attorneys and family members are asking Mattis to reduce the sentences.
By Rick Rogers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
5:06 p.m. August 7, 2007
CAMP PENDLETON - A general has cut short the sentences of two Marines imGeneral cuts sentences of two imprisoned Marines
By Rick Rogers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
5:06 p.m. August 7, 2007
CAMP PENDLETON - A general has cut short the sentences of two Marines imprisoned in the Hamdaniya murder case and might do the same for two others.
Pvts. Tyler Jackson and Jerry Shumate Jr. were released Monday by order of Lt. Gen. James Mattis, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton. The base announced Mattis' decision Tuesday.
Jackson and Shumate had been sentenced to 21 months in the brig as part of pretrial deals in which they pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice. They were demoted in rank - from corporal to private.
In exchange, the government dropped the charge of premeditated murder, which would have sent the defendants to prison for life without parole if they were convicted.
Before Mattis released them Monday, Jackson and Shumate were scheduled to leave the brig as early as December.
Mattis took into account various factors, including "their military experience, relative rank and position of authority and their specific involvement" in the Hamdaniya case, according to a statement that Camp Pendleton issued Tuesday.
Jackson, Shumate, five other Marines and a Navy corpsman kidnapped and killed a man in Hamdaniya, Iraq, on April 26, 2006. They snatched the victim from his bed, took him to a roadside hole, bound him and executed him with a barrage of bullets.
Afterward, the squad tried to disguise the killing as a firefight between U.S. troops and an insurgent trying to plant a bomb.
The defendants said they partly wanted to send a message that insurgents and their supporters in Hamdaniya would pay a dear price. They had become frustrated after repeatedly arresting a suspect and turning him over to Iraqi authorities, only to see him released every time.
Five of the defendants finalized plea bargains with the prosecution, receiving prison terms of one to eight years. Four of them - Jackson, Shumate, demoted Pvt. John Jodka III and demoted Hospitalman Melson Bacos - had left prison as of Tuesday.
The remaining Hamdaniya defendants went through courts-martial. Two of them - Cpls. Trent Thomas and Marshall Magincalda - were demoted to the rank of private and released from the brig at the end of their trials. Each had spent about 450 days in prison by then.
That leaves two Hamdaniya defendants still behind bars: Pvts. Robert Pennington and Lawrence Hutchins III. Before the Marine Corps demoted them, Pennington was a coporal and Hutchins was a sergeant.
Pennington is serving an eight-year sentence and Hutchins, who oversaw the Hamdaniya abduction and killing, was sentenced to 15 years last week.
Mattis is considering whether to cut short the prison terms for Pennington and Hutchins, Marine spokesman Lt. Col. Sean Gibson said Tuesday.
Those defendants' attorneys and family members are asking Mattis to reduce the sentences.prisoned in the Hamdaniya murder case and might do the same for two others.
Pvts. Tyler Jackson and Jerry Shumate Jr. were released Monday by order of Lt. Gen. James Mattis, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton. The base announced Mattis' decision Tuesday.
Jackson and Shumate had been sentenced to 21 months in the brig as part of pretrial deals in which they pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice. They were demoted in rank - from corporal to private.
In exchange, the government dropped the charge of premeditated murder, which would have sent the defendants to prison for life without parole if they were convicted.
Before Mattis released them Monday, Jackson and Shumate were scheduled to leave the brig as early as December.
Mattis took into account various factors, including "their military experience, relative rank and position of authority and their specific involvement" in the Hamdaniya case, according to a statement that Camp Pendleton issued Tuesday.
Jackson, Shumate, five other Marines and a Navy corpsman kidnapped and killed a man in Hamdaniya, Iraq, on April 26, 2006. They snatched the victim from his bed, took him to a roadside hole, bound him and executed him with a barrage of bullets.
Afterward, the squad tried to disguise the killing as a firefight between U.S. troops and an insurgent trying to plant a bomb.
The defendants said they partly wanted to send a message that insurgents and their supporters in Hamdaniya would pay a dear price. They had become frustrated after repeatedly arresting a suspect and turning him over to Iraqi authorities, only to see him released every time.
Five of the defendants finalized plea bargains with the prosecution, receiving prison terms of one to eight years. Four of them - Jackson, Shumate, demoted Pvt. John Jodka III and demoted Hospitalman Melson Bacos - had left prison as of Tuesday.
The remaining Hamdaniya defendants went through courts-martial. Two of them - Cpls. Trent Thomas and Marshall Magincalda - were demoted to the rank of private and released from the brig at the end of their trials. Each had spent about 450 days in prison by then.
That leaves two Hamdaniya defendants still behind bars: Pvts. Robert Pennington and Lawrence Hutchins III. Before the Marine Corps demoted them, Pennington was a coporal and Hutchins was a sergeant.
Pennington is serving an eight-year sentence and Hutchins, who oversaw the Hamdaniya abduction and killing, was sentenced to 15 years last week.
Mattis is considering whether to cut short the prison terms for Pennington and Hutchins, Marine spokesman Lt. Col. Sean Gibson said Tuesday.
Those defendants' attorneys and family members are asking Mattis to reduce the sentences.