Military Jury Set To Sentence Marine For Kidnapping And Conspiracy In Death Of Iraqi Civilian

Thursday, July 19th 2007, 8:30 pm

By: News On 6

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) _ A Marine convicted of kidnapping and conspiring to murder an Iraqi man told a military jury during his sentencing hearing Thursday that he wants to continue his service.

``I've never been good at anything until I came to the Marine Corps,'' Cpl. Trent Thomas said. ``It's pretty obvious Michael Jordan was meant to play basketball. Tiger Woods was meant to play golf. The Marine Corps, it's me.''

Thomas, a 25-year-old father of two, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole after being convicted Wednesday in the killing of the Iraqi man after a botched attempt to capture and kill a suspected insurgent in the village of Hamdania in April 2006.

The jury acquitted him of the most serious charge of premeditated murder, which carried a mandatory life sentence. He was also acquitted of making a false official statement, housebreaking and larceny.

The jury of three officers and six enlisted Marines will begin deliberating Thomas' sentence on Friday.

Prosecutors recommended he be sentenced to 15 years in prison with a dishonorable discharge, reduction in pay and forfeiture.

``It's not OK as a corporal of the Marines to not stand up when something is patently illegal,'' Lt. Col. John Baker, a prosecutor, told jurors.

His military lawyer said Thomas, who has already served 519 days in a military brig, should be credited for the time and allowed to return to service.

``We failed him as a Marine Corps, because under good leadership, this Marine would not be here today,'' said Maj. Haytham Faraj in his final statement. ``Consider where the responsibility lies.''

Prosecutors said that during a nighttime patrol on April 26, 2006, Thomas' squad hatched a plan to kidnap and kill a suspected insurgent from his house. When they couldn't find him, they instead kidnapped a man identified by prosecutors as Hashim Ibrahim Awad, a retired policeman and father of 11 who lived nearby.

The squad tried to cover up the killing by planting a shovel and an AK-47 assault rifle by his body to make it look like he was an insurgent planting a bomb, prosecutors said.

Thomas' attorneys argued at trial that their client was only following orders from his squad leader and that his judgment was impaired from repeated bomb blasts during three tours in Iraq. The Marine said during his 45-minute unsworn statement that he had been through too many bomb explosions to count during his three combat tours in Iraq. He was awarded a Purple Heart for his efforts in the siege on Fallujah.

Thomas said he was using the time in the brig to take correspondence courses and learned to play the piano for Sunday church services.

``I pray, I read, I do secret counseling with people for relationship problems,'' he said, noting that the counseling had to be secret because of restrictions on prisoners assuming leadership roles in the brig.

Earlier in the day, Thomas' sister testified about their difficult upbringing in the St. Louis area. The Marine's wife, Erica, also spoke, saying that she wanted her husband out of the brig.

``I would like him to come home,'' she said.

Thomas, of Madison, Ill., was the senior corporal in the squad and a fire team leader and the first to take his case to trial in the death of Awad. Four other Marines and the sailor pleaded guilty to reduced charges in exchange for their testimony, each receiving between one and eight years in the brig. Two of the Marines face trial.

Thomas agreed in January to plead guilty to unpremeditated murder, kidnapping, conspiracy and other charges. He stunned the court by withdrawing his guilty plea on the eve of sentencing in February.

The final terms of Thomas' punishment will be subject to review by Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the commanding general overseeing the case.

Courts-martial have been scheduled for the two Marines remaining in the case _ Cpl. Marshall L. Magincalda on Friday and of squad leader Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III next week.