110-Year Sentence in Iraq Rape-Killing
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) – A soldier convicted of rape and murder in an attack on an Iraqi teenager and her family was sentenced Saturday to 110 years in prison.
The sentence was part of a plea agreement attorneys for Pfc. Jesse Spielman had made with prosecutors that set the number of years he could serve in prison, regardless of the jury’s recommendation.
The jury had recommended life with parole, a sentence under which he would have to wait longer for the possibility of parole. He will be eligible for parole after 10 years.
Spielman was convicted late Friday of rape, conspiracy to commit rape, housebreaking with intent to rape and four counts of felony murder.
Military prosecutors did not say Spielman took part in the rape or murders but alleged that he went to the house knowing what the others intended to do and served as a lookout.
Full Story Here:
110-Year Sentence in Iraq Rape-Killing
Not being a JAG officer and since I am too lazy to look all this up in the UCMJ, I am just going to accept that this troop was sentenced correctly in accordance with his crimes, and as Baretta used to say, ‘Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time’.
I also remember when this initially happened, I am sure LittleOleLady and Basti will both remember the specific incident too, I told some folks that same quote in a forum we all were posting to and I was told how ‘anti-troop’ I was and how I was a fool for believing the MSM and their false accusations against these fine, innocent young soldiers.
I also remember all the folks sending their hard earned money to this defense fund or that save the troops fund and now I wonder, are those folks that sent money still satisfied that THEY did the right thing??
Spielman’s grandmother, Nancy Hess, collapsed outside the courtroom after the verdict was read; prosecutor Maj. William Fischbach ran to her side and called 911. Soldiers in Spielman’s unit fanned the woman with napkins.
Spielman’s sister, Paige Gerlach, screamed: “I hate the government. You people put him (in Iraq) and now, this happened.”
And to his sister I say, why hate the government?? The government DID send him to Iraq, but the government didn’t hold a gun to his head and make him participate in the rape and murder of some innocent teenager, and to participate, in one way or another in the murder of her family, your brother did this on his own, or through the peer pressure he felt from his fellow troops, but to blame the government for this only makes YOU look like a fool.
I am not trying to be a hard ass on this, I wasn’t disrespecting the military when the FACTS of this story were 1st reported, it’s not that I don’t believe that 99.999% of our troops are doing the right and honorable thing in Iraq, it’s that I know human nature, I spent a huge portion of my life studying human nature, it was what I did, it’s what kept me alive, and as soon as this story broke I was almost certain that it was real and it was going to turn out to be very ugly for all concerned.
I truly am sorry I was right, I had sincerely hoped I wasn’t, I was hoping it would turn out to be a story that was dropped on the MSM by Iraqi insurgents, and done to simply smear the good troops that are in Iraq, but for some reason, a hunch, a feeling, whatever, I was almost positive, right from the start that this was the real deal, young, unsupervised troops, booze, boredom, no sex, a young Iraqi girl, a combination tailor made for disaster.
Well as they say ‘shit happens’. I remember the incident Fred is talking about and how he was fried for not supporting the troops. I think I said that there is no crime in a war zone if you don’t kill/injury one of your own. If that’s not what I said word for word, that’s what I’m saying now.
I know what men in particular let alone troops trained to consider all who aren’t Americans as enemies will get up to. I know for a fact what our troops got up to in SE Asia and how 99.99999% of it was covered up. And when it comes to women anything short of outright murder was/is fair game.
This has turned into a political thing because what our troops have done overseas is minor in comparison to what Germans, Japanese, Russian, Chinese, Iraqi, UN etc, troops have done in the past and in some cases are still doing today. That said I think the sentence was on the harsh side.
Rory: You were doing really good on your comment, taking issue with Basti and all, that was great, right up until you started your bashing in general…
If you want to try again, you may get to post a comment, but I suggest you leave your nausea out of it and talk like a man, and don’t condemn ME for something someone else said…
What a crock of bull…………THIS IS WAR, no rules we perceive or conceive will ever work when you feel as if today is your last one on this planet. War dehumanizes anyone who has been stung by its fatigue.
The trial of that “young” man is pure crap and I hope when all of the media drama is over he is sent home with a new name, social security number ad some therapy. Now that is the right thing to do if justice is to be served here.
I was once a Soldier, who now has a son serving his “3″ tour in Iraq, he’s 22 years old and he was crazy as a loon before he left this last time. I called his company commander at 3rd Infantry and of course he was unavailable, so I spoke to the Chaplain and was flat out told that even if he had a bullet lodged in his head he would still have to go because they needed the “BODY COUNT”, these words were said to me vebatim.
So if my son rapes, pilledges, and kills everything that moves, you better know I am going to show up before CONGRESS with that recorded conversation and insist that the fault does not lie with him but his faulty command, and the horrific decisions of his President.
I’m with Basti on this.
The sentence was to harsh.
People, we are not animals are we? Yet? It is NOT OK for our troops to murder, rape etc just because they are in a combat zone. That is what the Russians, Japanese, Italians and Germans did in WWII and they were roundly condemned for that practice. We MUST be better. In a firefight, kill any and all that are opposing you, but to plan a rape and then cover it with murder? Please. Where are the Americans here? We stand for something, and we must be better in our MORAL behavior. I suspect that if someone in this country (not in the military, but a civilian) had done the same thing, the protesters in here would be calling for blood. But, because it is a soldier and he is in a combat zone that makes it OK? My God people, is that what this country means to you?
110 years is only a number, the actual sentence is when is he “elegible” for parole. As a former parole officer, that ain’t a bad sentence. If he behaves himself in the pokey, he’ll get out. 10 years for complicity in the death of 4 innocents? Nah, that is not harsh, harsh would be the same sentence the others got.
OK Fred, I’ve taken enough of your time. Thanks for the writing space.
Not that the men I ever served with would; but there was/is a song we’d sing every morning, and pretty much Marine Corps wide: “We’re gonna rape, kill, pillage and burn…”
Even a line about eating dead babies.
I’d suppose the Army does too, Hell I dunno.
For some reason I doubt they are singing that cadence in the morning run formations, in this BS PC war in either branch. This stuff was unofficially endorsed by Battalion, Regiment, Division in the Marines.
We’d run by the CG’s location frequently, yelling at the top of our lungs.
No Full Birds or Generals had a 1st Shirt, Sgt Major or a Master Gunnery Sgt. running out, with hands in the air, saying no, no, don’t say that. No, we were killing machines by God. Didn’t mean we were going to commit the most heinous war crimes though. It’s called brains…
However, when you are the most feared and deadliest weapon in the world you got that way by good hard, and motivating training and by singing songs like I mentioned.
Personal responsibility of actions yes, and that includes accountabilty on the command level; what kind of training regiment did he receive and how much “blood makes the grass grow “programming did he get?
A ton I’d say, and without this proven method of mental preparedness the Marine Corps, for example, would be nothing but a bunch of politically correct wusses with a history of lost battles and retreat.
It’s too harsh of a sentence, punishment yes, but with a “break shit” mentality, I’m sure some units have in the Army, he took it too far. But those in command love the motivating shit; but get in trouble and it’s like ” Damn, we didn’t mean it literally.”
There will always be that weak link of any unit, that 10%, that would and do.
GM, some folks don’t grasp the nuance of the judicial system, the sentencing and so forth…
I’m not sure that anyone has fully grasped MY take on this for some reason, other than Basti, we have argued this before, and remain close friends…
I KNOW our guys can break the law in a combat zone, and this is one of those terrible times, and it appears that justice IS being served…
As was I, and as is MY son, and he recently did a year on Route Irish with the 256th BCT and they had no one charged with ANY crimes against humanity, they served, and did their jobs in a professional manner…
Your excuses do NOT hold water, any soldier that would resort to this type of behavior is not a SOLDIER, he is a criminal and should be treated as such, regardless of how many combat tours he has…
And IF your son is as imbalanced as you say he is, one letter to your Congressman should be more than enough, as long as you Cc it to the DoD, and the White House itself…
I am in full agreement with the fact that our troops are stressed, and stretched too thin, and are NOT getting the OFF time out of the rotation they truly need, and I realize that we are seeing some mental problems develop as well, it’s a fact of life in combat troops, there are ALWAYS scars, some are just more well hidden than others, but there is NO EXCUSE to become a rapist and a murderer, under NO conditions is that an acceptable action, not from U.S. troops…
Being the uncle of one of the soldiers who witnessed and testified against the perps, I have heard firsthand of how a very small # of our soldiers have behaved in such manners. My nephew is a Msgt. and it’s his duty to report such incidents when they occur. It’s a fact that some of our soldiers are also criminals and were such in civilian life also. That is going to happen in any army anywhere. This wasn’t self defense, this was blatant disregard for a young persons life by another human being. Unfortunately it was a U.S. soldier who commited the crime. For him to blame the gov’t for sending him to Iraq is absurd since all soldiers know up front they will be sent anywhere they are needed at any time. I praise the soldiers in Iraq who are in harms way and still act as respectable American Soldiers in spite of the crap they deal with each day.
If we are to complain, let it be about the greedy contractors over there who commit more crimes than all soldiers but who are not under the same restrictions or laws. There are nearly as many highly paid (by us taxpayers) private contractors in Iraq than we have soldiers over there. Something is deeply wrong when this occurs at taxpayer expense on a scale that is costing us 10 times the taxpayer money. These corporations should be banned from operating in the manner they do.