A US federal judge has sentenced one former Blackwater security guard to life in prison and three others to 30 years over the killing of 14 Iraqi civilians in 2007.
The carnage in Baghdad's Nisoor Square killed 14 Iraqi civilians, wounded 17 others, and caused an international uproar over the use of private security contractors as guards in a war zone.
US District Judge Royce Lamberth sentenced Nicholas Slatten, who witnesses said was the first to fire shots in the melee, to life on a charge of first-degree murder.
The three other guards, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard, were each sentenced to 30 years and one day in prison for charges that included manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and the use of firearms while committing a felony.
Former Blackwater security guard Paul Slough's lawyer Brian Heberling expressed mixed feelings about the sentence.
"On the one hand the judge imposed the minimum sentence he could have imposed under the law, we asked for a sentence of 30 years and one day, because we recognised that the prosecutors had charged a mandatory minimum. A mandatory minimum count that carried with it 30 years in prison for using government issued weapons in a war zone. We found that charge unconscionable but we recognise the realities that this court faced at sentencing today. "
Paul Slough's wife Christin Slough says the men are scapegoats and should be held up as heroes.
Lawyers for the men say they plan to appeal.
