Marine’s death brings reprimand

A military jury Thursday ordered a Marine sergeant to receive a reprimand and be demoted to corporal for his guilty plea in the death of another Marine during a 2002 training exercise.

The jury rejected a request from prosecutors to order that Sgt. Cody Ottley receive a bad-conduct discharge. Ottley admitted that he mistakenly put live ammunition into his rifle rather than blanks.

Ottley, initially sentenced to a year, served 10 months in the brig until an appellate court ordered that he receive a new sentencing hearing because of errors by the judge. The reprimand will make it impossible for Ottley to reenlist, officials said.

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-- Tony Perry