One former employee of the private Blackwater Worldwide security company was sentenced Monday to life in prison and three others to 30 years each behind bars for their parts in a 2007 mass shooting in Baghdad that left 17 people dead.
A federal jury convicted the four in October after a lengthy trial that saw about 30 witnesses travel from Iraq to testify against the security contractors. Prosecutors accused the men of illegally unleashed "powerful sniper fire, machine guns and grenade launchers on innocent men, women and children."
Senior U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth sentenced Blackwater sniper Nicholas Slatten to a term of life in prison, mandatory for his first-degree murder conviction. Blackwater workers Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard were sentenced to 30 year each, plus one day.
Slough was convicted of 13 counts of voluntary manslaughter, 17 counts of attempted manslaughter and a firearms offense. The jury convicted Liberty of eight counts of voluntary manslaughter, 12 counts of attempted manslaughter and a firearms offense. Heard was found guilty of six counts of voluntary manslaughter, 11 counts of attempted manslaughter and a firearms offense.
This article makes me feel relaxed. Now that these people are finally behind bars, it eases my soul. I am upset that the sentence took so long though. This reminds me off the trials of Nazi officials after World War II.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/13/us/blackwater-contractors-iraq-sentencing/index.html
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