Marine charged in Iraqi deaths to be sheriff's deputy
Updated: 2/1/2007 12:40 PM
By: Associated Press

WILMINGTON -- A former Marine officer once charged with murder in the deaths of two Iraqis has become a deputy sheriff in North Carolina.

Ilario Pantano, a former second lieutenant who was cleared of wrongdoing in 2005, will finish basic training in three weeks and will be assigned to work at the New Hanover County jail, Sheriff Sid Causey said.

"You don't become a sheriff's deputy for the paycheck. You do it because you want to serve the community," Pantano said. "People seek to politicize my story and I'm dedicated to public service."

Pantano, 35, was charged with murder after shooting two Iraqis in Mahmudiyah, Iraq, and hanging a warning sign on their corpses in April 2004. Pantano said he acted in self-defense.

A Marine general decided in 2005 not to bring Pantano to trial, following the advice of an officer who presided over the military equivalent of a grand jury hearing. Pantano has since released a book, "Warlord: No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy," a title that mimics a Marine motto and the sign he hung on the Iraqis.

Causey said Pantano has gone through training just like any other deputy.

"I find him a very intelligent young man with a service heart, as I call it," Causey said. "Most of us are not in it for the money. Some of us like that kind of work and I think he does and I think he will do very well."

Pantano, a former Wall Street trader, returned to the Marines after Sept. 11, 2001. He resigned his military commission after charges were dropped.