Thursday, August 17, 2006

Former CIA contractor is found guilty

RALEIGH, N.C. - A former CIA contractor accused of severely beating an Afghan detainee with a flashlight during questioning was found guilty Thursday of assault.

The beaten detainee later died, but David Passaro, 40, wasn't charged in his death. The federal jury found him guilty after about 8 hours of deliberations of three counts of simple assault and one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

Passaro faces up to 11 1/2 years in prison. No sentencing date was immediately set.

Passaro was the first American civilian to be charged with mistreating a detainee during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was accused of beating Abdul Wali while the man was being questioned in 2003 about rocket attacks on a remote base where Passaro was stationed with U.S. and Afghan troops.

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