Mukilteo Marine gets 8 years in brig

SAN DIEGO — A 22-year-old Marine lance corporal from Washington state was sentenced Saturday to eight years in the brig and a possible dishonorable discharge in connection with the killing of an unarmed Iraqi man last year, the toughest sentence meted out to date in the high-profile case.

Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington of Mukilteo pleaded guilty to kidnapping and conspiracy in the shooting death of Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52, in the village of Hamdania. In exchange for his plea, a murder charge was dropped.

In previous hearings at Camp Pendleton, a Navy corpsman was sentenced to 12 months in the brig, a private first class to 18 months, and two lance corporals to 21 months each. Like Pennington, the four had pleaded guilty.

Prosecutors suggested that evidence showed Pennington, on his third combat tour in Iraq, was more culpable in the killing, including taking the lead in planting an AK-47 near the body to suggest that Awad was an insurgent killed in a firefight.

Pennington admitted his squad dragged Awad from his home in the middle of the night on April 26, 2006. They were frustrated after being unable to find their original target, a suspected insurgent bomber who had been arrested and released several times, he said.

Pennington's parents had pleaded for mercy with Col. Steven Folsom, the judge. His mother told Folsom that her son was psychologically damaged by the death of a buddy in the battle for Fallujah in November 2004.

Pennington's parents said they were shocked and saddened by the sentence. They vowed to continue the fight, through the appellate process or a request for clemency.

The battle in Fallujah changed their son, making him moody and volatile, his parents told Folsom.

"I've come to understand that Bobby died in Fallujah," said Deanna Pennington, his mother.

Three other Marines, all charged with murder, are scheduled to face a court-martial in the case. Among them is the alleged ringleader, Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins. The seven Marines and corpsman were part of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment.

Pennington told Folsom he regretted his actions but that he and other Marines were frustrated by their ill-defined mission in Iraq and the inability to tell friend from foe.

"As callous as it sounds," he said, every Iraqi was considered "guilty until proven otherwise."