CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.-
A Navy corpsman accused of kidnapping and murdering an Iraqi man will give testimony about seven Marines’ role in the incident in return for having charges against him dropped, his attorney said Wednesday.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos was a medic who patrolled with the Marine squad that allegedly kidnapped and murdered 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad last April in the town of Hamdania. All eight were charged with crimes including premeditated murder and kidnapping.
“We have reached an agreement with the government which will take Bacos out of harm’s way,” attorney Jeremiah Sullivan III told The Associated Press.
Under the deal, Bacos will give details of the incident Friday morning at a general court martial at Camp Pendleton, Sullivan said. In return, all of the charges against him will be dismissed. But he will plead guilty to two new charges, said Sullivan, who declined to elaborate.
When asked if Bacos would be freed after Friday’s testimony, Sullivan said he would not be.
Marine Lt. Col. Scott Jack, Bacos’s military attorney, also declined to elaborate on the deal, but said: “It is a very beneficial agreement for Bacos, and gives him an extremely bright future.”
Marine spokesman Lt. Col. Sean Gibson said it would be inappropriate to comment on any potential negotiations between the accused and the prosecution.
Also Wednesday, Pfc. John J. Jodka III and Cpl. Marshall L. Magincalda, who are among seven Marines charged, entered not guilty pleas in a military court.
Jodka, 20, and Magincalda, 23, appeared in short-sleeved khaki uniforms decorated with medal ribbons, and both said little.
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