An American soldier found guilty of abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has been sentenced to ten years by a military court in Texas.
Charles Graner, 36, was convicted of nine charges, including conspiracy, dereliction of duty, maltreatment, assault and indecent acts.
Prosecutors at the four-day hearing said he was the ringleader of the soldiers who carried out the abuses at the prison.
The prosecution argued that Graner and others in his unit acted without orders for their own gratification.
Graner's defence said the former Pennsylvania prison guard was following orders of military intelligence officials at the jail outside Baghdad as part of a vital, larger US war effort in Iraq.
Four other members of Graner's unit implicated in the Abu Ghraib scandal have already pleaded guilty.
