Pennington gets 8 years in Hamdania killing

North County Times ^ | February 17, 2007 | Mark Walker

[RedRover]

CAMP PENDLETON --- A Marine lance corporal was sentenced Saturday to eight years in jail and a dishonorable discharge for his part in the abduction and shooting death of a retired policeman last year in Hamdania, Iraq.

The sentence for Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington, who wasn't one of the men who shot the victim but who took part in the planning and abduction and later lied to investigators, is the most severe handed down in the slaying of Hashim Ibrahim Awad.

Four other Marines from the Kilo Company 1st squad, 2nd platoon with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment and their corpsman reached plea agreements with prosecutors last year and were sentenced to terms ranging from 12 to 21 months.

After the sentence was announced in a base courtroom, Pennington's mother said her entire family is suffering.

"This is really a punishment for our family as well," she said as she choked back tears. "We need Bobby in our lives, and we wish he could come home.

"I'll be spending every day of that sentence with him."

Pennington sat stoically when the judge who presided over his five-day court-martial and sentencing hearing, Col. Steven Folsom, announced the term as his parents and fiancee watched.

Pennington's role in the April 26 killing included helping march the 52-year-old Awad to the killing site, binding the victim's hands and feet and wiping squad members' fingerprints from a stolen AK-47. He also was accused of placing that weapon and a shovel in Awad's hands in an attempt to make it appear the Iraqi was an insurgent planting a roadside bomb.

Prosecutors had asked the judge to impose a 20-year term.

Pennington's father, Terry, said his family has been in shock since they first heard their son was in trouble.

"And we've remained in shock all the time."

"Mr. Awad wasn't the enemy," Maj. Donald Plowman argued. "Mr. Awad was a man asleep in a randomly selected house. That night, the accused was as bad or worse as the insurgents they were there to fight."

Pennington's lead attorney, David Brahms of Carlsbad, contended that the 22-year-old Seattle-area native was suffering from post-traumatic stress from three deployments to Iraq, including the major battle for the city of Fallujah and his actions in the killing were an aberration.

"It's a tragedy for everyone involved and cannot be undone by a Draconian sentence," Brahms said.

A former Marine general and legal affairs officer, Brahms told reporters he considers Pennington a "brother" and said the case has affected him more than any during his four decades of practicing military law.

"I'm sad because a fine young Marine was scarred by his experiences in Fallujah," Brahms said. "The is an extraordinary young man whose future has been damaged beyond repair."

The judge granted Pennington an additional three months credit for time served because of a determination that he was initially held in brig under unnecessarily strict conditions.

Folsom initially sentenced Pennington to 14 years in jail, a term that was set aside as a result of a plea deal with the convening authority over the case, Lt. Gen. James Mattis.

Pennington's family wants him held in the brig at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, but that facility's classification does not allow it to hold anyone for more than five years.

As the judge was deliberating, about a dozen protesters at the base's main gate held signs of support of the group they call the "Pendleton 8."

Clo Shivnan of Long Beach contended that despite the admissions from the men who have pleaded guilty -- and said that they knew what they were doing was wrong -- "we're still not getting the full story."

Oceanside's Leo Chapinski said he believes the men should be discharged from the service but not serve any jail time.

"Lots of thing happen in combat," he said. "In this case, they took a bunch of 18- and 20-year-old kids and put them in a war zone where they didn't know who the enemy was and they just lost it," Chapinski said.

Miguel Hidalgo was more blunt as drivers on their way into the base by the honked their car horns in support.

"This is war," he said. "Marines are trained to kill, and we shouldn't expect anything less."

The remaining three defendants in the case, Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III and Cpls. Trent Thomas and Marshall Magincalda are slated to go to trial later this year.

The men who have pleaded guilty all have said it was Hutchins who initiated the plan that led to Awad's killing.

They have testified that Awad was seized after the squad could not find its intended target, a suspected insurgent. The killing, they've testified, was meant to send a message to the people of Hamdania that the Marines were tired of being attacked.

Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.

[RedRover]

So a Marine is rubberhosed into confessing but gets three months off his eight-year sentence as a concession. Folsom is such a big-hearted guy.

Related threads:

* February 16: Mother seeks light sentence for lance corporal in Awad killing

* February 15: Marine used hand of slain Iraqi to slap victim's face [Hamdania stoolie's tale]

* February 14: Marine Details Iraqi Kidnap-Murder Plan

* February 13: Marine wants extra credit for time served

U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Robert B. Pennington walks to his court-martial proceedings Tuesday at Camp Pendleton. Pennington is facing charges related to the death of 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad on April 26, 2006 in Iraq.

[lilycicero]

Where do you think he will go? Prayers for him and his family.

[RedRover]

Not sure where he'll end up. This is just so sad. I hate having to post it.

[Binstence]

This is a stunning example of just how sick American jurisprudence and our culture have gotten. These good men are doing hard time for serving their country and were convicted on the testimony OF THE ENEMY. At the same time, repeat offender child rapists roam freely to strike again, and Hollywood moguls and celebrities murder with immunity due to "liberal" judges and the protection of perversion as a civil right. We have only ourselves to blame for having allowed our representatives and jurors to pervert the US Constitution unabated. God save us.

[RedRover]

Ping!

If you weren't pinged, let jazusamo or me know if you want on the Hamdania Marine Ping List.

[lilycicero]

It is sad and it just goes to show the difference of taking a plea...about 6 yrs difference.

[RedRover]

Unfortunately, it's worse than you think. This was not a jury trial. It was a plea deal in the UCMJ system (investigated by the NCIS and prosecuted and defended by JAGs).

In this particular case, a 22 year-old Marine was denied his constitutional rights because there would have been no case at all without confessions. There was no other evidence. So he and his comrades were held for months in solitary confinement, shackled, denied attorneys, threatened with the death penalty, until one by one, they began to make deals.

The first ones to make deals were lucky. Corpsman Bascos, for instance, will be out of the brig after serving just ten months. Oh, and he'll get a nonpunitative discharge. All he had to do was sign statements written by NCIS agents and testify in court.

If this were a civilian case, all charges would be dismissed against Pennington and the other Hamdania Marines. But our Marines have less rights than cop killers, child rapists, or terrorists at Gitmo.

[HaveHadEnough]

So he and his comrades were held for months in solitary confinement, shackled, denied attorneys, threatened with the death penalty, until one by one, they began to make deals.

Typical prosecutorial conduct, in both military and civilian courts.

[RedRover]

No, there's no parallel.

If you are a civilian prosecutor, try putting a suspect in a steel conex hut for months on end before he or she has been charged and see how long you keep your job. Even Nifong never dared go that far.

[ishabibble]

Prayers for Bobby and his brave family. This should never have happened.

[jazusamo]

Prayers for Bob and his family. This was not unexpected due to his plea earlier in the week. Here's a copy of it.


United States Marine Corps
Camp Pendleton Media Center For more information:
Bldg 22181 Phone: 760-725-4484/4485
Marine Corps Base
Camp Pendleton, CA 92055

Internet: http://www.usmc.mil/lapa/iraq-investigations.htm

Press Release #07-004 Feb. 14, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Marine Pleads Guilty at General Court-Martial in Hamdania Investigation

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (Feb. 14, 2007) – Lance Cpl. Robert B. Pennington pled guilty Tuesday to charges during a general court-martial held here for his involvement in the death of an Iraqi civilian, Hashim Ibrahim Awad, on April 26, 2006, near Hamdania, Iraq.

As the result of a pre-trial agreement reached with the convening authority, Pennington pled guilty to conspiracy to commit premeditated murder and kidnapping, and to the charge of kidnapping.

Pennington also pled not guilty to murder, larceny, housebreaking, and conspiracy to commit larceny, housebreaking and false official statement. Pursuant to the pre-trial agreement, the charges to which Pennington pled not guilty will be dismissed upon sentencing.

Charges were referred to general court-martial on Oct 17, 2006.

The maximum penalty for the charges to which Pennington pled guilty is confinement for life, reduction in rank to private/E-1, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and a dishonorable discharge from the Marine Corps.

Sentencing is scheduled to take place later this week.

The military judge for the general court-martial was Col. Steven Folsom.

Additional information on military justice and general courts-martial proceedings can be found at http://sja.hqmc.usmc.mil/JAM/MJFACTSHTS.htm

[Eagles6]

Well put.

[freema]

Folsom initially sentenced Pennington to 14 years in jail, a term that was set aside as a result of a plea deal with the convening authority over the case, Lt. Gen. James Mattis.

Folsom could have given him any sentence.

---

Terry Pennington is convinced that the man who was shot and killed by the squad was involved in making roadside bombs.

"They got the bad guy and they did what they had to do," Terry Pennington said.

http://rss.msnbc.msn.com/id/17146241/

I concur. Awad was Gowad's neighbor and as such, harbored a known terrorist. The Rules of Etiquette, NOT Rules of Engagement, are at play with this f'n case. Tea, crumpets or bon bons, anyone?

---

The squad set out that night on a hunt for insurgents but decided as a group to instead seize a known insurgent named Saleh Gowad and kill him as a message to the small village of Hamdania that the Marines were not going to tolerate attacks.

Pennington said that the squad leader, Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III, led the plot and he acknowledged he helped finalize the plan and then shared it with the other platoon members.

Hutchins has pleaded not guilty and faces trial later this year, as do two other defendants.

Seven Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman assigned to the unit were charged in the killing.

When they couldn't locate their intended target, Pennington said, the plan was to grab one of Gowad's brothers, of whom he said they also suspected of taking part in roadside bombings and other attacks.

"It would affect the insurgency and send a message," he said. "We felt that just catching them would be an exercise in futility ---- they would just be released a few days later."

After finding none of those men, Pennington said a team from the squad took Awad from his home immediately next door to Gowad's residence. Awad was then forcibly marched about 1,000 yards away and shot multiple times.

http://rss.msnbc.msn.com/id/17144611/

---

Awad was more guilty of murder than these Marines could ever be. And jack murtha is a pussy, liar, cheat, thief, and cold blooded killer.

[Girlene]

This is so sad for the whole Pennington family.

"Mr. Awad wasn't the enemy," Maj. Donald Plowman argued...That night, the accused was as bad or worse as the insurgents they were there to fight."

I'm curious if Maj. Plowman has spent any time in Iraq wondering where the next IED was coming from?

[RedRover]

Of course not, silly! Maj. Plowman is a JAG (Just a Gentleman).

Apologies to decent JAGs lurking on this thread.

[lilycicero]

No surprise that I was confused. So Pennington took a plea as well, but a lot later than the other Marines who get 12-21 months?
Thank for your post.

[Girlene]

Seems Robert Pennington got the same presiding judge as Melvin Bacos. - Marine Col. Steven Folsom.

In Bacos' sentence Col. Folsom sentenced him to 10 years and a dishonorable discharge. However, with his prearranged plea deal, Bacos will only serve 10 months and remain in the Navy.

In Pennington's sentence, Col. Folsom sentenced him to 14 years, don't know about dishonorable discharge. Per Pennington's plea deal he will serve 8 years and be dishonorably discharged.

It just doesn't sit right, IMO, that turning on his "brothers in arms" would gain Bacos this much. Appears the presiding judge didn't think so either with his sentences.

[freema]

What'cha sayin', Girlene?

[voltaires_zit]

> "Mr. Awad wasn't the enemy," Maj. Donald Plowman
> argued...That night, the accused was as bad or worse as
> the insurgents they were there to fight."
>
> I'm curious if Maj. Plowman has spent any time in Iraq
> wondering where the next IED was coming from?

I'm curious how you think pulling random civilians from their beds and killing them in cold blood contributes to a stable, democratic Iraq under the rule of law?

[Girlene]

You wrote, "I'm curious how you think pulling random civilians from their beds and killing them in cold blood contributes to a stable, democratic Iraq under the rule of law?"

I don't think I presented the hypothesis you just posed.

By the way, according to a previous article in the North County Times, the investigating agency, NCIS, may not have thought Mr. Awad was a terrorist, but neither was he just a random civilian to the Pendleton 8 unit.
...."Despite assertions from defense attorneys and the accused men's family members, agency officials" (referring to NCIS) "say privately that their investigation clearly demonstrated a squad out of control that conspired to kidnap and kill Awad after he would not provide members with information about insurgent activity in the area."....http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/09/25/news/top_stories/92301190403.txt
Now, the prosecution is asserting he was just a random civilian that the unit was unfamiliar with.

Maybe we're both just being "curious". Curiosity is good, don't you think.