A former Blackwater Worldwide security guard was sentenced to life in prison and three others were given 30-year prison stints in a federal court Monday for the murder of 14 civilians in a Baghdad traffic circle in 2007 — a highly-controversial  and publicized incident that occurred during one of the most violent periods of the Iraq War.

Thirty-one-year-old Tennessee native Nicholas A. Slatten’s claim of innocence was rejected by U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth and instead was handed the penalty of life in prison, after being convicted of murder in October for initiating the mass execution by firing the first shots.

These three former contractors were all handed the penalty of 30 years and one day in prison for manslaughter and attempted manslaughter:

  • Paul A. Slough, 35, of Keller, Texas
  • Evan S. Liberty, 32, of Rochester, New Hampshire
  • Dustin L. Heard, 33, of Maryville, Tennessee

All four have confirmed that they will appeal, claiming that they fired in self-defense in a war zone that was one of the most dangerous and violent on the planet at the time.

One of the convicted called the sentences a “perversion of justice”.

More from the Washington Post:

[Judge] Lamberth, a Ronald Reagan appointee and former Army captain, said the defendants, all U.S. military veterans, “appear overall to be good young men who have never been in trouble,” but commended the U.S. government for “finding and exposing the truth of what happened in Nisour Square” on Sept. 16, 2007.

 

The government entrusts service members and contractors with deadly weapons and provides them with training to use them only when necessary and justified by the circumstances, Lamberth said.

 

“It is clear these fine young men just panicked,” Lamberth said. “The overall, wild, thing that went on here can just not be condoned by a court.. . . A court has to recognize the severity of the crimes committed, including the number of victims.”

 

During the 10-week trial, Lamberth said, no witness testified they saw the guards come under fire, nor was evidence found that AK-47 rifles carried by Iraqi insurgents were used at the time.