CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., Oct. 6 — A Navy hospital corpsman who said he watched seven members of his Marine squad repeatedly shoot an unarmed Iraqi in the head and chest in April was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison, which was reduced to one year in a plea agreement..
The corpsman, Petty Officer Third Class Melson J. Bacos, 21, pleaded guilty to modified charges of conspiracy and kidnapping, but avoided the charge of murder and a possible death sentence by agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors and testify against members of his squad.
With time served, Petty Officer Bacos could be released in five months.
His testimony offered the first detailed public description of the April 26 incident in Hamdaniya, a Sunni stronghold west of Baghdad, where prosecutors say the eight soldiers joined in an unprovoked murder tantamount to a war crime.
The men, all members of Kilo Company in the Third Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment, are accused of dragging Hashim Ibrahim Awad from his home, binding his hands and feet, gagging him and then shooting him at point-blank range; and later planting evidence and lying to cover up his death.
“I witnessed Sergeant Hutchins dead check the man and then fire three rounds into the man’s head,” Petty Officer Bacos said, speaking about his squad leader, Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III, a focus of his testimony. After that, he said, Cpl. Trent D. Thomas, another squad member, fired 7 to 10 rounds into the man’s chest.
All eight men — the others are Cpl. Marshall L. Magincalda, Lance Cpl. Tyler A. Jackson, Lance Cpl. Robert B. Pennington, Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr. and Pvt. First Class John J. Jodka III — were charged June 21 with premeditated murder, kidnapping, conspiracy and making false statements to investigators.
Charges against Petty Officer Bacos were reduced as part of his plea bargain.
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