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 Tuesday to six months in prison for her role in the scandal that rocked the U.S. military’s image at home and abroad.
The sentence for Spc. Sabrina Harman came a day after she was convicted on six of the seven counts she faced for mistreating detainees at the Baghdad lockup in late 2003. She faced a maximum of five years in prison, though prosecutors asked the jury to give her three years.
With credit for time served, Harman’s actual sentence will be about four months.
Harman, 27, of Lorton, Va., was the second U.S. soldier tried and convicted in the scandal.
“As a soldier and military police officer, I failed my duties and failed my mission to protect and defend,” Harman said, her voice cracking.
WWII Battle of the Bulge hero dies
Jose Lopez, the United States’ oldest remaining Hispanic recipient of the Medal of Honor, who earned the award for single-handedly killing more than 100 German soldiers in a skirmish during the World War II Battle of the Bulge, has died. He was 94. Lopez died Monday of cancer at the San Antonio home of his daughter. On Dec. 17, 1944, the sergeant was on a snowy patch of ground near Krinkelt, Belgium, when he saw that German tanks and infantry were about to overrun his company. He lugged his heavy Browning machine gun into a shallow hole and started firing, first killing 10 enemy soldiers and then another 25. Lopez changed positions repeatedly. He stopped shooting only when he ran out of ammunition, and killed so many enemy soldiers that officials stopped counting after 100.
Maryland: No prom for booze talk
Two Frederick high school seniors who told a newspaper they planned to drink alcohol following their prom have been barred by the principal from attending the event, the students said Tuesday. Shawnda Lawson and Nicole Taylor, both 18, were quoted in The Frederick News-Post on May 5 discussing their plans for underage drinking at post-prom parties this Saturday. “I like drinking,” the newspaper quoted Lawson as saying. The students and their parents said their comments were misconstrued. News-Post Managing Editor David Elliott said the newspaper stood by its story. Lawson said the story had damaged their reputations.
D.C.: Europe, Iran plan new talks
With U.S. support, three European nations will meet early next week with Iran in a fresh effort to curb its nuclear activities, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said. He declined to predict the outcome at a joint news conference with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who blessed the diplomatic effort as “well-worth pursuing.” If talks fail, the United States and the allies have agreed to take their concerns to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board in Vienna and to the U.N. Security Council.
Homeland Security official nixed
The Homeland Security Department would say goodbye to Hollywood and eliminate a consultant whose job would be to boost the agency’s image under a budget provision the House approved Tuesday. Instead of paying an annual salary of up to $136,000 to actress Bobbie Faye Ferguson, who appeared in the TV shows “Designing Women” and “The Dukes of Hazzard,” lawmakers agreed to transfer the money to state and local first responders in Homeland Security’s proposed budget for next year. Ferguson was hired in October to review script proposals.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
