Ex-Security Guards Convicted In Iraq Shooting To Get Long Sentences In Deaths Of 14 Civilians

Source: Associated Press

SAM HANANEL | Associated Press | 33 minutes ago in Politics

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge said Monday that he won't deviate from the lengthy mandatory minimum sentences faced by four former Blackwater security guards for their role in a 2007 shooting that killed 14 Iraqi civilians and wounded 17 others.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth rejected a defense motion to impose lesser sentences on the four, as well as a motion by prosecutors to increase the penalties.

That means that former guard Nicholas Slatten appears likely to be sentenced to life in prison for his first-degree murder conviction, and that three others — Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard — appear headed for a minimum of 30-year terms for multiple counts of manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and using firearms while committing a felony.

Lamberth deferred formally imposing the sentences while hearing emotional testimony from families of Iraqi victims as well as character witnesses urging leniency for the defendants. Defense lawyers argued for mercy but prosecutors said the men have never shown remorse or accepted responsibility.

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