Soldier Guilty of Armed Robbery

A military jury found a soldier guilty of armed robbery Thursday for taking an Iraqi sheik’s sport utility vehicle at gunpoint, but concluded that he did not deserve prison.

The panel also convicted the soldier, Sgt. 1st Class James Williams, of willful dereliction of duty for allowing his troops to consume alcohol in Iraq.

Williams, 37, of rural Westmoreland County, Va., maintained that he helped take the SUV only because his lieutenant had ordered him to procure a vehicle and because he did not think it was a criminal act. But the prosecution alleged that he was simply after a “sweet ride.”

Williams, a soldier with the 101st Airborne Division, declined to comment to reporters after the ruling, but his civilian defense attorney, Bernard Casey, said he planned to appeal.

“Where was the evidence this constituted a crime?” Casey asked.

The jury recommended a reduction in rank to private and a bad-conduct discharge, but no prison time. The commanding general of the 101st, Maj. Gen. Tom Turner, will decide Williams’ sentence.

With tears rolling down his face when the jury’s recommended sentence was read, Williams put his chin down and nodded his head back and forth. The prosecution had sought a four-year prison term.

“We’re lucky that he got this sentence,” said Williams’ wife, Kim. “It could have been a lot worse.”

Said his sister, Russell Perry: “At least he won’t be going back to Iraq.”

Army prosecutor Capt. Howard Hoege said Thursday that Williams helped take the SUV at gunpoint from the sheik’s son, who was driving it. Williams then helped orchestrate a story that the vehicle was found abandoned, Hoege said.

Early in the war, soldiers were allowed to “commandeer” a civilian vehicle for military purposes under the rules of engagement. They were instructed to leave a receipt so the vehicle could be later returned or the owner compensated for it.

Casey said Williams and the other soldiers did not leave a receipt because they thought the area was hostile and they needed to leave in a hurry. The Army later paid Sheik Ahmed W. Faisal $32,000 for the SUV.