No Jail Time for Meriden Marine

Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich — who pleaded guilty to dereliction of duty by negligence in connection to the 2005 killing of 24 Iraqis in Haditha Monday — will not spend any time in jail but his rank will be reduced to private — the lowest military grade.

For the charge, Military Judge Lt. Col. David Jones recommended a sentence of the three month maximum in confinement at a sentencing hearing Tuesday, but the plea agreement kept him from actually serving jail time. Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, Commander, Marine Corps Forces Central Command will make a final adjudication on the sentence once he has fully reviewed the case.

The case began Nov. 19, 2005, when a roadside bombing attack killed Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas and Wuterich led a team that led a house to house hunt that left men, women and children dead.

During the Tuesday hearing’s morning session, Wuterich expressed in a stoic voice his sorrow to the families of victims.

“I wish to assure you that on that day, it was never my intention to harm you or hour families,” he said. “I know that you are the real victims of November 19, 2005.”

He said he never shot his own weapon at women and children.

“When my Marines and I cleared those houses that day, I responded to what I perceived as a threat and my intention was to eliminate that threat in order to keep the rest of my Marines alive,” he said. “So when I told my team to shoot first and ask questions later, the intent wasn’t that they would shoot civilians, it was that they would not hesitate in the face of the enemy.”

Prosecutor Lt. Col. Sean Sullivan told the court that Wuterich’s direction to his team was fatal.

“That derelict order … led to the deaths of 14 different human beings,” he said. “That is a horrific result to that derelict order.”

By pleading guilty to a reduced charge of dereliction of duty by negligence, Wuterich avoided up to 152 years of jail time for nine counts of voluntary manslaughter, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, and three counts of dereliction of duty.

In his sentencing hearing, the defense played a video of the single father playing and studying with the three daughters he has sole custody of.

Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, Commander, Marine Corps Forces Central Command will make a final adjudication on the sentence once he has fully reviewed the case.

Seven other Marines have been cleared of charges, to include murder charges.