CAMP PENDLETON, Calif (Reuters) ? The U.S. Marine sergeant accused of leading a 2005 massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha returned to a military court at Camp Pendleton near San Diego on Tuesday to face sentencing for his guilty plea to one count of dereliction of duty.
Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, 31, entered his plea on Monday as part of a deal with military prosecutors in which more serious charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault were dismissed.
The guilty plea cut short Wuterich's court-martial, ending the final prosecution of alleged atrocities that sparked public outrage and brought international condemnation of U.S. troops.
As part of his guilty plea, Wuterich accepted responsibility for providing negligent verbal instructions to the Marines under his command when he told them to "shoot first and ask questions later," which resulted in the death of innocent civilians.
He 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 on Tuesday, a Camp Pendleton spokesman said.
Any discharge process Wuterich may face will be separate from the plea and sentencing.
Appearing in court on Tuesday, Wuterich, wearing his military uniform, sat stoically, hands folded and elbows resting on the table, and calmly listened. His lawyer, Neal Puckett, questioned one of several character witnesses expected to be called before sentencing is imposed.
Wuterich was accused of being the ringleader in a series of November 19, 2005, shootings and grenade attacks that left two dozen civilians dead in Haditha, a city west of Baghdad that was then a hotbed of insurgent activity.
The killings were portrayed by Iraqi witnesses as a massacre of unarmed civilians -- men, women and children -- carried out by Marines in anger after a member of their unit was killed by a roadside bomb.
Lawyers for the troops involved argued the deaths resulted from a fast-moving situation in which the Marines believed they were under enemy fire. Wuterich was originally charged with murder in the case.
Six out of the eight Marines originally accused in the case had their charges dismissed by military judges, and a seventh was cleared of criminal wrongdoing.
Wuterich enlisted in the Marines after his 1998 graduation from high school, where he was an athletic honor-roll student and played with the marching band.
He was serving his second tour of duty in Iraq when the Haditha incident occurred.
(Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Greg McCune)
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