WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge has sentenced a former Blackwater security contractor to life in prison for his role in the 2007 shooting of unarmed civilians in Iraq.

Judge Royce Lamberth issued the sentence Wednesday after friends and relatives requested leniency for Nicholas Slatten, who was found guilty of first-degree murder by a jury in December.

Prosecutors charged that Slatten was the first to fire shots in the September 2007 massacre of Iraqi civilians at a crowded traffic circle in Baghdad. In all, 10 men, two women and two boys, ages 9 and 11, were killed.

The defense had argued that Slatten and other Blackwater contractors opened fire only after they saw what they mistakenly thought was a potential suicide car bomber moving quickly toward their convoy.

FILE - In this June 11, 2014, file photo, former Blackwater Worldwide guard Nicholas Slatten enters a taxi cab as he leaves federal court in Washington, after the start of his trial. A federal judge has sentenced a former Blackwater security contractor to life in prison for his role in the 2007 shooting of unarmed civilians in Iraq. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

FILE - In this June 11, 2014 file photo, former Blackwater Worldwide guard Nicholas Slatten leaves federal court in Washington, after the start of his first-degree murder trial. A federal judge has sentenced a former Blackwater security contractor to life in prison for his role in the 2007 shooting of unarmed civilians in Iraq. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) </s> A former security guard for the US firm Blackwater was found guilty of murder on Wednesday for his role in a notorious massacre of unarmed civilians in downtown Baghdad in 2007.

Nicholas Slatten, 35, was convicted of first-degree murder by a federal jury in U.S. District Court in Washington after five days of deliberations.

Slatten was convicted of killing Ahmed Haithem Ahmed Al Rubia'y, 19, an aspiring doctor who was one of more than a dozen civilians killed by Blackwater guards in Baghdad's Nisour Square on September 16, 2007.

While escorting a diplomatic convoy, Blackwater guards opened fire in the bustling square with sniper rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers - allegedly without provocation - leaving at least 14 civilians dead and at least 18 wounded.

The Iraqi government says the toll was higher.

The shooting deepened the resentment of Americans in Iraq four years after U.S. forces toppled dictator Saddam Hussein and raised questions about the expanded use of armed contract guards by the US government.

The US Attorney's Office presented testimony from 34 witnesses during the trial, including four who came to the United States from Iraq to testify.

According to the government's evidence, Slatten, of Sparta, Tennessee, was the first to open fire.

No date was set for his sentencing. The U.S. Attorney's Office said the murder charge calls for a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

It was Slatten's third trial on the charges. His first conviction was thrown out and the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict at his second trial.

Slatten was one of four Blackwater guards who were found guilty in 2014.

He was originally sentenced to life in prison while the three others were given 30-year prison sentences

An appeals court has ordered that the three other Blackwater guards be resentenced.

They are currently in custody pending resentencing. </s> FILE – In this June 11, 2014, file photo, former Blackwater Worldwide guard Nicholas Slatten enters a taxi cab as he leaves federal court in Washington, after the start of his trial. A federal judge has sentenced a former Blackwater security contractor to life in prison for his role in the 2007 shooting of unarmed civilians in Iraq. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has sentenced a former Blackwater security contractor to life in prison for his role in the 2007 shooting of unarmed civilians in Iraq.

Judge Royce Lamberth issued the sentence Wednesday after friends and relatives requested leniency for Nicholas Slatten, who was found guilty of first-degree murder by a jury in December.

Prosecutors charged that Slatten was the first to fire shots in the September 2007 massacre of Iraqi civilians at a crowded traffic circle in Baghdad. In all, 10 men, two women and two boys, ages 9 and 11, were killed.

The defense had argued that Slatten and other Blackwater contractors opened fire only after they saw what they mistakenly thought was a potential suicide car bomber moving quickly toward their convoy. </s> A former Blackwater private security guard was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison after a retrial on murder charges for his role in the notorious 2007 massacre of unarmed civilians in Baghdad.

Nicholas Slatten was convicted in December of first-degree murder by a federal jury in U.S. District Court in Washington, the second time he had been found guilty on the charges.

Slatten was convicted of murdering Ahmed Haithem Ahmed Al Rubia'y, 19, an aspiring doctor who was one of more than a dozen civilians killed by guards of the private security group Blackwater in Baghdad's Nisour Square on Sept. 16, 2007.

While escorting a diplomatic convoy, Blackwater guards opened fire in the bustling square with sniper rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers — allegedly without provocation — leaving at least 14 civilians dead and at least 18 wounded. The Iraqi government says the toll was higher.

The shooting deepened Iraqi resentment of Americans in the country four years after U.S. forces toppled dictator Saddam Hussein and raised questions about Washington's expanded use of armed contract guards.

In court for sentencing Wednesday, Slatten remained defiant, calling the decision a "miscarriage of justice that will not stand," according to The New York Times.

It was Slatten's third trial on the charges. His first conviction was thrown out and the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict at his second trial in 2018.

Slatten was one of four Blackwater guards who were found guilty in 2014. The 30-year sentences originally given to the others were also vacated for retrial. </s> Blackwater Guard's 2nd Murder Trial Ends Without A Verdict

Enlarge this image toggle caption Cliff Owen/AP Cliff Owen/AP

The second murder trial of Nicholas Slatten, the former Blackwater contractor accused of firing the first shots in a shooting that killed more than a dozen unarmed civilians, has ended in a mistrial.

After weeks of deliberations, the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict, and U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth declared a mistrial on Wednesday.

The future of the case is unclear; attorneys for both sides will meet Sept. 14 to discuss the options, including the possibility of a third trial.

Bill Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C., told NPR via email that the office "is reviewing the matter and has no further comment at this time."

Blackwater USA, a now-notorious private security contractor, was hired by the U.S. State Department to protect diplomats during the Iraq War. In September 2007, Blackwater guards opened fire on Baghdad's Nisour Square, killing and injuring unarmed civilians.

Slatten was one of four guards who were found guilty in connection to that shooting. They were first charged in 2008, but that case was thrown out. The case was revived in 2013, and the next year, the men were convicted after marathon jury deliberations. Slatten was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, while the three other guards were convicted of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter.

But last year, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out Slatten's conviction and said he should get a new trial.

NPR's Scott Neuman reported at the time:

"The judges said that Slatten, who was the only defendant charged with murder, should have been tried separately and that a new trial would allow him to introduce evidence that he wasn't the first to open fire. "Separately, the judges also ordered the resentencing of Slatten's former Blackwater colleagues Paul Slough, Dustin Heard and Evan Liberty, who had each been serving 30 years on manslaughter and weapons charges. In a split ruling, the judges found the length of those sentences constituted "cruel and unusual punishment."

The resentencing of the other three Blackwater guards had been postponed until after Slatten's case was resolved.

Blackwater, which was founded by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' brother Erik Prince, was sold after its name became synonymous with military atrocities and misconduct in Iraq.

Initially renamed Xe Services, the company is now called Academi. </s> The second murder trial of a former Blackwater security guard over the 2007 killing of a civilian in Baghdad was ruled a mistrial Wednesday, a year after his first conviction was thrown out.

Washington federal judge Royce Lamberth declared a mistrial in the case of Nicholas Slatten, 34, after a jury reported last week they were at an impasse and could not reach a unanimous verdict.

Slatten was one of four armed guards for the former US security contractor Blackwater Worldwide who were found guilty in 2014 of murder for the notorious killings in Baghdad's Nisour Square.

While escorting a diplomatic convoy on September 16, 2007, they opened fire with sniper rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers, allegedly without provocation, in the bustling square, leaving at least 14 civilians dead and at least 17 wounded. The Iraqi government says the toll was higher.

The shooting deepened the resentment of Americans in Iraq four years after US forces toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, and raised questions about the expanded use of armed contract guards by the US government.

Slatten was originally sentenced in 2015 to life in prison as the alleged first person to have opened fire.

The three others were given 30 year prison sentences, although Lamberth at the time of sentencing said that: "It's clear these fine young men just panicked."

An appeals court, accepting later evidence that another guard was the first to fire, overturned Slatten's guilty verdict and ordered a new trial for him alone.

He faced one charge of first degree murder of a single Iraqi, Ahmed Haithem Ahmed al Rubia'y.

A spokesman for the court said federal prosecutors were reviewing the case. They can choose to ask for a new trial, or decide not to pursue it further. </s> The retrial of a Blackwater security guard alleged to have participated in a 2007 massacre of unarmed Iraqi civilians ended Wednesday in a hung jury.

U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth declared a mistrial after the jury said it remained deadlocked after more than two weeks of deliberations in the case of Nicholas A. Slatten.

Slatten was accused of firing the first shots of a one-sided firefight on Sept. 16, 2007, in Baghdad's Nisour Square. Armed Blackwater personnel fired machine guns and threw grenades into traffic, killing or injuring 31 people.

Since that time, the U.S. Justice Department has been trying to hold the Blackwater employees involved in the incident responsible.

In 2014, Slatten was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Last August, a federal appeals court threw out that conviction and ordered a new trial. </s> WASHINGTON — A former Blackwater Worldwide contractor accused of firing the first rounds in a mass shooting that killed more than a dozen unarmed civilians in a Baghdad traffic circle in 2007 was found guilty of one count of murder Wednesday.

Nicholas Slatten was found guilty of first-degree murder by a unanimous federal jury in the death of Ahmed Haithem Ahmed Al Rubia’y.

Slatten, 35, wearing a blue suit and blue tie, was smiling on and off throughout the short hearing, and shrugged to his attorneys when he heard the verdict. No sentencing date has been set.

Slatten was first charged in 2008 along with three other contractors for Blackwater, a private military company, but that case was thrown out.

When the case was brought back in late 2013, Slatten was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. The other three guards were convicted of charges including manslaughter and attempted manslaughter.

The four men were part of a Blackwater security team code-named Raven 23, who shot 31 innocent Iraqis in the traffic circle of Nisur Square in September 2007. The shooting happened after a car bomb exploded in downtown Baghdad.

Fourteen of the Iraqis, including women and children, died.

Prosecutors in the 2013 trial said Slatten was the person who “initiated the entire incident” when he fired the first shots “without justifications.”

But in 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals threw out Slatten’s murder conviction and said he deserved a new trial.

That second trial ended in September 2018 when a mistrial was declared after weeks of the jury being unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

Blackwater was founded by Erik Prince, who is the brother of Education Secretary Betsy Devos. Since the 2007 shooting, Prince sold the company, which reorganized and now exists as Academi.

Gary Grumbach reported from Washington, D.C., Elisha Fieldstadt reported from New York. </s> Nicholas Slatten, a 35-year old former security guard for the private mercenary firm Blackwater, was found guilty of first-degree murder on Wednesday in the third trial stemming from his role in the notorious 2007 Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad, Iraq that left 14 Iraqis civilians dead and another 17 injured.

The jury's verdict on Wednesday came after a three-judge federal appeals court panel ordered a retrial for Slatten and resentencing for three of his Blackwater colleagues—Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, and Paul Slough—in August of 2017. Slatten's second murder trial ended in a mistrial in September. While no sentencing date has been set, the murder charge means he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Outlining the government's evidence for the case, the U.S. Attorney's office in D.C. said in a statement:

[At] approximately noon on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2007, several Blackwater security contractors, including Slatten and his former co-defendants, opened fire in and around Nisour Square, a busy traffic circle in the heart of Baghdad. When they stopped shooting, 14 Iraqi civilians were dead. Those killed included 10 men, two women, and two boys, ages 9 and 11. Another 18 victims were injured. According to the evidence, Slatten was the first to fire, without provocation, killing Ahmed Haithem Ahmed Al Rubia'y, an aspiring doctor, who was driving his mother to an appointment.

Slatten's murder conviction is for Ahmed's death. As the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday:

Patrick Martin, who is chief of the criminal division at the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington, D.C., told jurors last month that Mr. Slatten had fired the first shots at the traffic circle, setting off the chaotic episode. Mr. Slatten carefully planned to kill the driver of a white Kia, acting out of "hate, prejudice, and some twisted notion of revenge," Mr. Martin said in opening statements.

"You know that this man took this sniper rifle, and through this scope he took aim at Ahmed's head, and he fired. Boom. And he fired again. Boom. And why?" prosecutor Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez reportedly said to jurors in his closing arguments. "Because, ladies and gentlemen, he thought he could get away with it. Nobody would know. He would never have to answer to people like you sitting in this jury room today."

Slatten is being held until he is sentenced by Judge Royce C. Lamberth, according to the U.S. Attorney's office—which added that "Slough, Liberty, and Heard remain in custody and their re-sentencing proceedings remain pending before Judge Lamberth." Meanwhile, Blackwater's infamous former CEO, Erik Prince, has yet to face any consequences for incident.

"Just as with the systematic torture at Abu Ghraib, it is only the low level foot-soldiers of Blackwater that are being held accountable," journalist Jeremy Scahill—author of the book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army—wrote for The Intercept after the first trial in 2014. "Prince and other top Blackwater executives continue to reap profits from the mercenary and private intelligence industries."

Although Prince has since sold off Blackwater, which relaunched as Academi, the billionaire war profiteer—who happens to be the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos—served as an adviser to President Donald Trump's transition team and has continued to advocate for the use of mercenaries, urging the administration to privatize the seemingly endless war in Afghanistan.
In a third trial, Nicholas Slatten is sentenced to life in prison.