COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—A former Fort Carson soldier who was charged with murder in the death of a fellow Iraq veteran has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in a deal with prosecutors.
Kenneth Lee Eastridge pleaded guilty in El Paso County District Court last week to accessory to murder. In exchange, prosecutors dropped charges of first-degree murder and other counts.
The agreement requires the 24-year-old Eastridge to testify against two co-defendants. He’s expected to be sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Eastridge, Bruce Bastien Jr. and Louis Bressler were charged in the December shooting death of 24-year-old Kevin Shields in Colorado Springs. Bastien and Bressler are awaiting trial.
Bastien and Bressler are also charged with first-degree murder in a second slaying.
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Information from: The Gazette,
