December 5, 2008
Abu Ghraib defendant gets 6 months
Reservist was 2nd soldier convicted of abuse in Iraq prison scandal
FORT HOOD, Texas - An Army reservist who appeared in several of the most infamous abuse photos taken by guards at Abu Ghraib prison was sentenced yesterday to six months in prison for her role in the scandal that tainted the U.S. military's image at home and abroad.
Spc. Sabrina Harman was sentenced a day after she was convicted on six of the seven counts she was charged with in the mistreatment of detainees at the Baghdad prison in late 2003.
She could have received a maximum of five years in prison. Prosecutors asked the jury to give her three years.
With credit for time served, Harman will serve an additional four months.
Harman, 27, of Lorton, Va., was the second U.S. soldier tried and convicted in the scandal.
During yesterday's sentencing hearing, she tearfully apologized for mistreating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
"As a soldier and military police officer, I failed my duties and failed my mission to protect and defend," Harman said, her voice cracking. "I not only let down the people in Iraq, but I let down every single soldier that serves today.
"My actions potentially caused an increased hatred and insurgency towards the United States, putting soldiers and civilians at greater risk. I take full responsibility for my actions. ... The decisions I made were mine and mine alone."
Defense lawyer Frank Spinner said his client was offered the chance to plead guilty last year in return for a maximum sentence of two years. Harman turned down the proposal.
"I felt very strongly in Sabrina Harman," Spinner said. "I feel she's a very naive, very innocent person. ... She didn't know how to react to that experience" at Abu Ghraib.
Prosecutors said in a written statement that they were pleased to conclude Harman's case "as we strive to air all the facts regarding Abu Ghraib."
Earlier in the day, witnesses testified that Harman, a former pizza shop manager, was kindhearted and helpful while serving in an Iraqi city.
When other U.S. soldiers wanted to sit in the shade after a long workday, Harman ran around in the hot sun, playing games with Iraqi children, witnesses said.
Much of the defense testimony during sentencing focused on her behavior while in Hillah, Iraq, where the Maryland-based 372nd Military Police Company was stationed for several months before moving to Abu Ghraib.
Two Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, whose testimony was read into the record, said Harman's gentle treatment was unique among the guards in the part of the prison reserved mostly for detainees thought to have intelligence value.
"She has no cruelty in her," Amjad Ismail Khalil al-Taie said through an interpreter. "Even though she is an American woman, she was just like a sister."
The only other soldier to be tried in the scandal, Pvt. Charles A. Graner Jr., was convicted in January and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Sentences for the Abu Ghraib guards who struck plea bargains have ranged from no time behind bars to eight years.
Pfc. Lynndie R. England, the most recognizable Abu Ghraib defendant, also made a deal with prosecutors, but it was thrown out by a judge last week.
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Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun
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