Marine reaches plea deal
SAN DIEGO – A Washington state Marine charged with kidnapping and murdering an Iraqi civilian in the town of Hamdania has agreed to plead guilty to lesser charges, his attorney said Monday.
Four of the eight men in the case have now negotiated plea bargains.
Steve Immel, attorney for Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr., said his client would plead guilty to new charges of aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice. All original charges, including murder, kidnapping, conspiracy, larceny, assault and housebreaking, would be dismissed.
Shumate, 21, of Matlock, is the third Marine to make a plea deal in the case, in which the squad was alleged to have tried to cover up the kidnap and murder. The Navy corpsman on patrol with the squad has also pleaded guilty to lesser charges.
Immel said his client would likely be in court next Monday to enter guilty pleas, as well as testify about events surrounding the death. Immel declined to comment on any prison sentence agreed in the deal.
“He’s relieved to be putting this behind him,” Immel said in a phone interview. “He is a young man who is a danger to no one.”
Immel said the commanding general in the case, Lt. Gen. James Mattis, agreed to the deal last week and that during their discussion Mattis acknowledged the challenges Marines face in combat. Shumate was on his first tour.
“Gen. Mattis does understand the difficulties that someone like Lance Cpl. Shumate faced in that environment,” Immel said. “He probably better than any of us understands what young Marines are going through.”
Marine spokesman Maj. Jeff Nyhart declined to comment.
The Marines still facing trial on original murder charges are the most senior of the group – the squad leader, two corporals and one lance corporal.
According to testimony from Pfc. John Jodka III, Lance Cpl. Tyler A. Jackson and Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos, who all pleaded guilty to lesser charges, the squad hatched a plan to kidnap and kill a known insurgent that had been repeatedly captured and released.
When the troops couldn’t find the suspected insurgent, they took Hashim Ibrahim Awad from his home, apparently at random, and killed him instead, Bacos testified.
Bacos said the squad took Awad to a roadside hole and shot him before planting a shovel and AK-47 to make it appear he was planting a bomb. Jodka said he and other Marines shot at Awad.
Bacos was sentenced to one year in prison. Jodka and Jackson will be sentenced this week.