FORT HOOD, Texas, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- A jury at Fort Hood, Texas, late Friday convicted Army Spc. Charles A. Graner on all charges of abusing inmates in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
Graner, of Uniontown, Pa., was the first of seven Army Reservists charged in the case to face a court-martial. Jurors returned the verdict in five hours, WFAA-TV in Dallas reported.
The jury of officers and senior enlisted men then began hearing testimony in the sentencing phase. The soldier could face up to 15 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge.
Graner, a prison guard in civilian life, was the ringleader of the abuse, according to prosecutors.
During the five-day court-martial, one of the Arab inmates testified in a videotaped deposition that Graner was "the primary torturer" at the prison.
Guy Womack, Graner's lawyer, said his client was only following orders. He defended the human pyramid of Arab inmates pictured in photos as an acceptable way to control the inmates.
