Another Abu Ghraib dog handler to be sentenced
The abuse of Abu Ghraib prisoners undermines US efforts to bring democracy to Iraq, an Army prosecutor told a military jury tasked with sentencing a dog handler for using his animal to torment a detainee.
In Fort Meade, Maryland, Army Sgt. Santos Cardona was yesterday convicted of dereliction of duty and aggravated assault for allowing his Belgian shepherd to bark within inches of a prisoner’s face. Sentencing deliberations were scheduled to resume Friday at 1.30pm Irish time.
Cardona became the 11th soldier convicted of crimes stemming from the abuse of inmates at the prison in late 2003 and early 2004.
He faces a maximum penalty of three-and-a-half years in prison, a dishonourable discharge and forfeiture of all pay and allowances.
During a two-hour sentencing hearing yesterday, prosecutor Maj. Matthew Miller recommended confinement of 12 months and a bad conduct discharge.
Cardona’s military lawyer, Capt. Kirsten Mayer, asked for no prison time and a return to duty.
“A soldier who let his dog get too close to a detainee, and the dog barked,” she told the panel.
