US army contractor jailed for killing Afghan

WASHINGTON (PAN, the Department of Justice said.

Christopher Drotleff, 31, of Virginia Beach, had shot dead an Afghan citizen while on an unauthorised convoy in Kabul. The Virginia court also ordered Drotleff to serve three years of supervised release following the prison term.

“We hope that today’s sentence will bring some measure of comfort to the victims’ families,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

“Reckless violence by those who are employed by our armed forces abroad endangers the lives of innocent civilians and undermines the trust that our international partners have placed in our military efforts,” he added. 

According to evidence presented at trial, on May 5, 2009, after the lead vehicle in the convoy crashed, Drotleff and his friend fired multiple shots into the back of a civilian car that had attempted to pass the scene.

The passenger was fatally shot and the driver seriously injured. An individual who happened to be walking his dog in the area was also killed in the shooting. 

The jury found the defendants guilty of involuntary manslaughter for the death of Romal Mohammad Naiem, the front-seat passenger.  They were acquitted of charges relating to the death of the person walking his dog and injuries to the driver.

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