Ex-Blackwater guards get lengthy prison sentences
A federal judge has sentenced a former Blackwater security guard to life in prison, and three others to 30 years in prison, for their roles in a 2007 shooting that killed 14 Iraqi civilians and wounded more than a dozen others.
Former guard Nicholas Slatten was sentenced to life in prison for his first-degree murder conviction, while the three others - Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard - were given 30 years for multiple counts of manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and using firearms while committing a felony.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth choked up while reading the sentencing, after an emotional day in court. Earlier in the day, Lamberth said he wouldn't deviate from the lengthy mandatory minimum sentences the four faced, rejecting a defense motion to impose lesser sentences, as well as a motion by prosecutors to increase the penalties.
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The four men were convicted in October for their involvement in the killings that caused an international uproar in Nisoor Square, a crowded traffic circle in downtown Baghdad. The legal fight over the killings has spanned years.
Prosecutors have described the shooting as an unprovoked ambush of civilians, though defense lawyers countered that the men were targeted with gunfire, and shot back in self-defense.
The defense argued for mercy Monday by saying that decades-long sentences would be unconstitutionally harsh punishments for men who operated in a stressful, war-torn environment, and who have proud military careers and close family ties.
The firearms convictions alone carry mandatory minimum sentences of 30 years in prison. The government sought sentences far beyond that, partly because it said the men have never shown remorse or accepted responsibility.
There were approximately 100 supporters for the four defendants in the courtroom on Monday, and many of them wore t-shirts to express support and solidarity. The four defendants all sat at the defense table in blue jumpsuits with their legs retrained. They rarely looked back at the gallery.
When the prosecution presented its argument for sentencing, the attorneys used large television monitors to display pictures of the victims and recount the details of the attack. The court then heard statements from five victims including four relatives of Ali Mohammed Hafedh Abdul Razzaq, a nine year old boy who was killed in the attack.
The sentencing is unlikely to bring an end to the legal wrangling, which began even before the guards were first charged in 2008. A judge later dismissed the case before trial, but a federal appeals court revived it and the guards were indicted again in October 2013.
Even before the trial began, defense lawyers had identified multiple issues as likely forming the basis of an appeal, including whether there was proper legal jurisdiction to charge them in the first place.
The statute under which they were charged, the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, covers the overseas crimes of Defense Department civilian employees, military contractors and others who are supporting the American war mission. But defense lawyers note that the Blackwater defendants worked as State Department contractors and were in Iraq to provide diplomatic, not military, services.
The legal fighting continued in the days leading up to sentencing, too, with defense lawyers seeking Friday to postpone the hearing after receiving new information - a victim impact statement from a trial witness - that they said was favorable to the defense. But Lamberth denied the request, saying there was no need to delay the sentencing.
CBS News Justice Department reporter Paula Reid contributed to this report.