Abu Ghraib abuse: US intelligence soldier jailed

In emotional testimony before being sentenced, Cruz said he took full responsibility for his actions. ‘‘I knew my actions were wrong. There’s no way to justify,’’ he said.

As the first intelligence operative to be tried, Cruz’s case is significant as the Pentagon has said the abuse was the work of a few bad military police acting on their own, and not on the orders of intelligence officers.

Stephen Karns, Cruz’s lawyer, described Cruz as a ‘‘war hero’’ who acted out of character in Abu Ghraib as he was suffering from stress following a mortar attack on the prison. Cruz was later awarded a Purple Heart after being wounded in the attack and was nominated for a Bronze Star.

A photograph taken on Oct. 25, 2003, showed Cruz and two other soldiers standing by as military police abused three prisoners in the foreground.— (Reuters)