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Sentence cut for Hamdaniya squad leader

LOS ANGELES — A Camp Pendleton Marine who was sentenced to 15 years in the brig for killing an Iraqi man has had his sentence reduced by four years, the troop’s attorney said Wednesday.

Rich Brannon, the civilian lawyer for Lawrence G. Hutchins III, said the reduction came after he appealed to Lt. Gen. Samuel T. Helland, Hutchins’ commanding general, for clemency.

“I was pleased to see a reduction, but I would like to see more,” Brannon told The Associated Press in a phone call from North Carolina.

Brannon said he had not yet seen official paperwork approving Hutchins’ sentence reduction, but he learned of the decision Tuesday from the Marine’s legal team at Camp Pendleton.

A Marine spokesman was not immediately available to comment late Wednesday.

Hutchins, of Plymouth, Mass., was the leader of an eight-man squad accused of kidnapping Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52, from his home in April 2006 then marching him to a ditch and shooting him to death. The killing took place in Hamdaniya, a small village in Anbar province.

Hutchins was sentenced Aug. 3 after being convicted of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, making a false official statement and larceny.

Hutchins had been charged with premeditated murder but premeditation was removed from the verdict, meaning Hutchins no longer faced a mandatory life sentence.

All eight squad members — seven Marines and one Navy corpsman — were initially charged with murder and kidnapping but four lower-ranking Marines and the sailor cut deals with prosecutors in exchange for their testimony and received sentences ranging from one to eight years in prison. Other Marines were acquitted of murder but convicted of lesser charges and freed after their courts-martial.

Brannon said Hutchins is appealing his conviction and is hoping to get the case retried.