A soldier convicted of rape and murder in an attack on an Iraqi teenager and her family was sentenced Saturday to 110 years in prison, with the possibility of parole after 10 years.

The sentence was part of a plea agreement attorneys for Pfc. Jesse Spielman had made with prosecutors that set the number of years he could serve in prison, regardless of the jury's recommendation.

The jury had recommended life with parole, a sentence under which he would have to wait longer for the possibility of freedom.

Spielman was convicted late Friday of rape, conspiracy to commit rape, housebreaking with intent to rape and four counts of felony murder.

Military prosecutors did not say Spielman took part in the rape or murders but alleged that he went to the house knowing what the others intended to do and served as a lookout.

In closing arguments, the military prosecutor, Maj. William Fischbach, said Spielman played a "bit part" but stressed he shared responsibility.

Spielman took the stand to petition jurors for leniency before he was sentenced.

"I don't really blame my chain of command. I don't really blame anybody," he said quietly. "I could have stopped it. I take responsibility for my actions."

Spielman, 23, of Chambersburg, Pa., received the longest sentence of four soldiers who have been convicted. Three other soldiers pleaded guilty under agreements with prosecutors for their roles in the assault and were given sentences ranging from five to 100 years.Spielman's grandmother, Nancy Hesscollapsed outside the courtroom after the verdict was read; Fischbach ran to her side and called 911. Soldiers in Spielman's unit fanned the woman with napkins.

Spielman's sister, Paige Gerlach, screamed: "I hate the government. You people put him (in Iraq) and now, this happened."

Defense attorneys declined to comment after the sentencing hearing.

Spielman had pleaded guilty on Monday to lesser charges of conspiracy to obstructing justice, arson, wrongfully touching a corpse and drinking. The 110-year sentence encompasses those crimes, too.

The case stemmed from the March 12, 2006, rape and slaying of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, 14, and the killings of her parents and sister. The attack took place in Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad.

Prosecutors rested their case Thursday amid struggles to overcome a fellow soldier's recanting of a story that Spielman acted as a lookout.

Spc. James Barker said in earlier testimony that he had allowed investigators to draft sworn statements for him that implicated Spielman.

Barker testified Wednesday that several portions of the document were untrue, including references to Spielman's role in the conspiracy to attack the family and his knowledge of plans to rape the girl.

But Sgt. Paul E. Cortez testified that Spielman stood guard. Cortez said Spielman was within a few feet of the others as they held down the screaming girl and did nothing to stop them.

Barker, Cortez and another soldier, Pfc. Bryan L. Howard, pleaded guilty for their roles.

Steven D. Green, who was discharged from the Army before being charged, faces a possible death sentence when he is tried in federal court in Kentucky. He has pleaded not guilty to charges that include murder and sexual assault.

Barker and Cortez gave investigators conflicting statements about whether Spielman knew of the plan to rape the girl and whether he was present when they discussed it over whiskey and gin, according to testimony.

During their courts-martial, Barker and Cortez testified they took turns raping the girl while Green shot and killed her mother, father and younger sister. Green shot the girl in the head after raping her, they said.

The girl's body was set on fire with kerosene to destroy the evidence, according to previous testimony.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/04/ap3987987.html

U.S. Soldier Convicted in Iraq Deaths

A 23-year-old Army private was convicted late Friday by a military jury of rape and four counts of murder for his role in the late-night attack last year on an Iraqi family in Mahmudiya, a hostile Sunni Arab town south of Baghdad.

The private, Jesse Spielman, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison; the jury’s only choice in sentencing him is whether to allow the possibility of parole, said one of his civilian lawyers, Dan Christensen. The jury, consisting mostly of Army officers at Ft. Campbell, Ky., also found Private Spielman guilty of conspiracy to commit rape and housebreaking with the intent to commit rape, a Ft. Campbell spokesman said.

Private Spielman is the third soldier from Company B, First Battalion, 502nd Infantry, 101st Airborne Division to be convicted of murder and rape in the case, in which soldiers sexually forced themselves on a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and then killed her and her family. In February, Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, 24, was sentenced to 90 years in prison; last November, an Army judge sentenced Specialist James P. Barker to 100 years in prison.

Prosecutors said the three soldiers and a fourth soldier in their unit, Steven D. Green, who was discharged on psychiatric ground apparently before the Army learned of the episode, barged into the family’s home, where three of them raped Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, the oldest of two daughters, while her parents and 7-year-old sister were kept in a back room.

Unlike Sergeant Cortez and Specialist Barker, who each pleaded guilty to rape and murder in exchange for a term of years, Private Spielman sought acquittal at court-martial because, according to his lawyers and the other soldiers convicted in the case, he did not physically participate in the rape or murders. “He didn’t rape anybody, and he didn’t kill anybody,” Mr. Christensen said in a telephone interview yesterday.

But the jury convicted him because of his role as an accomplice. As a result, he will receive a life sentence, possibly without parole, whereas Sergeant Cortez and Specialist Barker will be eligible for parole after 10 years in prison, Mr. Christensen said.

If the jury gives him life with parole, Private Spielman will be eligible after 20 years, Mr. Christensen said.

The next phase of the government’s prosecution in the Mahmudiya rape and murder will be the trial of Mr. Green, in a federal court in Kentucky. Prosecutors have said he was the ringleader and enthusiastically urged the other soldiers to join in the attack on the family. It was Mr. Green, prosecutors say, who after raping Abeer killed her and her family with an AK-47 that the family was legally allowed to keep in the house.

Mr. Green is to be tried on murder and rape charges in the coming months for murder and rape. He has pleaded not guilty, but he faces a mounting set of witnesses and punishments.

As part of their plea arrangements, Specialist Barker and Sergeant Cortez, now in the Army’s main prison at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., have promised to testify against him. A few weeks ago, the Justice Department said it will seek the death penalty if he is convicted.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/05/us/05abuse.html?ref=us