Rejecting pleas for mercy, a federal judge on Monday sentenced former Blackwater security guard Nicholas Slatten to life in prison and three others to 30-year terms for their roles in a 2007 shooting that killed 14 Iraqi civilians and wounded 17 others.
The carnage in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square, a crowded traffic circle, caused an international uproar over the use of private security guards in a war zone and remains one of the low points of the war in Iraq.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth sentenced Slatten, who witnesses said was the first to fire shots in the melee, to life on a charge of first-degree murder. The three other guards — Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard — were each sentenced to 30 years and one day in prison for charges that included manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and using firearms while committing a felony.
Lawyers for the men said they planned to appeal.
In their first public statements since the shooting, the former contractors — appearing in leg shackles and prison garb — insisted they are innocent.
“I cannot say in all honesty to the court that I did anything wrong,” Heard told the judge.
“I feel utterly betrayed by the same government I served honorably,” Slough said.
But Lamberth said he fully agreed with the jury’s guilty verdicts last October and praised the Justice Department and the FBI for investigating the shooting and putting the truth “out there for the world to see.”
“The overall wild thing that went on here just cannot ever be condoned by the court,” Lamberth said.
He announced the sentences after a daylong hearing at which defense lawyers had argued for leniency and presented character witnesses for their clients.
Prosecutors described the shooting as an unprovoked ambush of civilians and said the men haven’t shown remorse or taken responsibility. Defense lawyers countered that the men were targeted with gunfire and shot back in self-defense.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Martin urged the court to consider the gravity of the crime as well as the sheer number of dead and wounded and “count every victim.”
The defense argued for mercy, saying decades-long sentences would be unconstitutionally harsh for men who operated in a stressful, war-torn environment and who have proud military careers and close family ties.
Among those testifying was Mohammad Kinani Al-Razzaq, who spoke in halting English about the death of his 9-year-old son as a picture of the smiling boy was shown on courtroom monitors. He demanded the court show Blackwater “what the law is” and claimed many American soldiers died “because of what Blackwater did.”
“What’s the difference between these criminals and terrorists?” Razzaq asked.
Slatten, 31, is from Sparta, Tenn.; Slough, 35, from Keller, Texas; Liberty, 32, from Rochester, N.H.; and Heard, 33, from Maryville, Tenn.
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