A Marine was sentenced to seven years in the brig and reduced to the rank of private over the January 16 stabbing death of Pfc. Ethan Barclay-Weberpal at the School of Infantry at Camp Pendleton, California, according to multiple media reports.
Pfc. Raymond W. Begay was convicted Wednesday before a military court after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter, the Orange County Register reported.
Begay was facing murder charges but the government agreed to withdraw that charge in June for a guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter, the Register said.
“To say this was emotionally trying is an understatement, but God gives us the strength to keep moving forward and allowing Ethan’s legacy to live on,” Scott Weberpal, the father of the slain Marine, posted on his Facebook page following the conviction.
The defense argued the Marine’s death was a tragic accident, the result of Marines horsing around.
But the prosecution attempted to show that Begay had a history of threatening to stab other Marines.
Begay will be confined to a brig on Camp Pendleton and will also receive a bad conduct discharge following his release from confinement, according to the Register.
Shawn Snow is the senior reporter for Marine Corps Times and a Marine Corps veteran.
