BAGHDAD — A military jury Sunday convicted an Army sniper of murder and sentenced him to 10 years in prison for killing an Iraqi civilian who wandered into the hiding place where six soldiers were sleeping.
Sgt. Evan Vela, 24, was found guilty of murder without premeditation, of aiding and abetting in planting an AK-47 on the dead man’s body and of lying to military investigators about the shooting. He had faced a possible life sentence.
Vela apologized to the court, the Army and one of the sons of Genei Nasir al-Janabi, the man he shot with a pistol in May.
Vela’s trial was the last of three snipers in the unit accused in a series of shooting deaths south of Baghdad that defense lawyers said happened under command pressure to increase kill counts and, perhaps, employ questionable tactics in doing so.
The Army has declined to confirm that any such program existed, saying it does not discuss tactics used in the field.
