HAGERSTOWN, Md. – The third of seven U.S. soldiers from a Maryland unit charged with abusing Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib (search) prison near Baghdad has pleaded guilty to reduced charges, an Army spokesman said Tuesday.
Spc. Megan Ambuhl (search), 30, of Centreville, Va., pleaded guilty Saturday at a summary court-martial in Baghdad to reduced charges of dereliction of duty for failing to prevent or report the maltreatment, Lt. Col. Steven A. Boylan said.
He said Ambuhl, who like the other soldiers charged is a member of the Maryland-based 372nd Military Police Company, was busted down to a private.
Her civilian attorney, Harvey J. Volzer, has said that Ambuhl is not shown in any of the infamous pictures from the prison near Baghdad.
She could have gotten up to 71/2 years in prison on charges she watched prisoners being abused and helped set up the photograph of Pfc. Lynndie England (search) holding a naked prisoner by a leash.
Staff Sgt. Ivan L. "Chip" Frederick II of Buckingham, Va., was sentenced Oct. 21 to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to eight counts. Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits of Hyndman, Pa., was sentenced May 19 to a year after pleading guilty to three abuse charges.
Along with the troops from the 372nd, Spc. Armin Cruz, 24, a military intelligence soldier, was sentenced last month to eight months for his part in the scandal.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox