SAN DIEGO – A US marine sergeant accused of leading a massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha pleaded guilty yesterday to dereliction of duty, ending the final prosecution stemming from a 2005 incident that brought international condemnation of US troops.
Staff Sgt Frank Wuterich (31) entered his plea as part of a deal with military prosecutors in which more serious charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault were dismissed.
Sgt Wuterich was initially charged with murder and with being the ringleader in a series of November 2005 attacks that left two dozen civilians dead in Haditha.
He now faces a maximum sentence of three months of confinement, forfeiture of two-thirds of his pay for three months and a reduction in rank when he is sentenced today at the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base north of San Diego.
Six out of the eight marines originally accused in the case had their charges dismissed, and a seventh was cleared of criminal wrongdoing.
– (Reuters)