CAMP PENDLETON -- On Friday morning, Marine Cpl. Trent Thomas stood stiffly before a military jury facing a possible life prison sentence.

This morning, private citizen Trent Thomas plans to stand as a free man at the base's main gate holding a sign in support of fellow squad mates charged with the killing of an Iraqi civilian last year.

Instead of a life prison term, or any jail time at all, the jury of three officers and six enlisted men deliberated only an hour before ruling that Thomas' punishment be limited to a bad-conduct discharge and reduction in rank to private.

His sentence is the lightest punishment handed down among the six men who have been found guilty in the case and is the result of his attorneys taking a calculated -- and successful -- risk with a jury of his peers.

"I believe that we did what we needed to do to save Marines' lives," Thomas said shortly after walking out of a base courtroom. "I was just hoping I could go home to my family. We've been through a lot, and now we're going to be together."

The jurors, each of whom has had combat experience, convicted Thomas of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit premeditated murder and related offenses Wednesday. They acquitted him of the most serious charge of premeditated murder that carries a mandatory life sentence without parole.

The split verdict still exposed the 25-year-old St. Louis native to a possible life sentence as a result of the conspiracy conviction.

David Brahms, a former Marine general and attorney who represented co-defendant Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington who was sentenced to eight years in prison, called Thomas' decision to go to trial risky and praised the work of the defense team.

"Great reward comes with great risk," he said.

Prosecutors sought a 15-year prison term, arguing that anything less would not hold Thomas accountable for the crimes committed while playing a key role in the abduction and slaying of 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad.

Thomas' attorneys wanted the sentence limited to the 14 months he has been in custody since the April 26, 2006, killing in the village of Hamdania northwest of Baghdad, arguing that failures in Marine leadership led to the incident.

Thomas was the first among the eight Camp Pendleton troops charged in June of last year to take his case to trial.

Five co-defendants struck plea deals and received jail sentences ranging from one to eight years. Trials for the two remaining defendants, squad leader Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III and Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, get under way next week in separate Pendleton courtrooms.

Thomas pleaded guilty to charges in January but withdrew those pleas at his sentencing hearing in early February, saying then that he was simply following an order from Hutchins.

'Didn't feel right'

The plea deal his attorneys had worked out would have given him a sentence of 12 years in prison.

His lead attorney, Victor Kelley, acknowledged that taking the case to trial exposed Thomas to significant jeopardy but said pleading guilty just "didn't feel right."

"The longer we (defense attorneys) talked, the angrier we got," Kelley said of the discussions among defense attorneys about the possible sentence Thomas faced.

That's when he and Thomas' two military attorneys, Majs. Haytham Faraj and Dale Saran, called their clients and discussed taking the case to trial.

Kelley said that despite convicting Thomas, he believes the jury didn't want his young children not to have their father.

On Thursday, the jury tipped its hand regarding the sentencing, asking the military judge why Thomas was no longer getting paid and why his family had no benefits. Thomas' enlistment ran out last year and despite being in the brig, his pay and benefits ended, a result of Defense Department policy.

"I think the members wanted to put him in a position where he could start planning for his life again and support his family," Kelley said. "The defense was on top from the first day. The prosecution didn't resonate with the jury."

During his eight-day trial, Thomas' attorneys presented medical witnesses who said he suffers from a mild form of post-traumatic stress disorder and was predisposed to agree with anything his leaders wanted, even if that meant breaking the military's rules of engagement.

Those who pleaded guilty testified that Awad was picked at random and that the killing was intended to send a message that the Marines were tired of being attacked.

As he stood surrounded Friday by several family members including his wife, Erica, and their children, the slight-framed Thomas repeatedly thanked God and said his new mission is to work for the freedom of the other accused men from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment.

"They're my brothers," he said of the 1st squad, 2nd platoon Kilo Company group dubbed the "Pendleton 8" by supporters. "We've been through a lot together and I will stand by them."

'Just doing their job'

The sentence is the work of a jury familiar with the pressures of combat, family members of some of the accused and a legal expert said Friday.

Former Marine attorney and judge Gary Solis said after the sentencing that juries often soften verdicts through sentencing.

"Juries have always been society's avenging sword or the means by which society softens the rough edges of the law," he said.

Now a professor of military law and Washington's Georgetown University, Solis said the sentence carries the message that says "we can't have this conduct, so you're gone," but at the same time is sympathetic to Thomas and his squad mates.

Pennington's mother, Deanna, said she isn't second-guessing her son's decision to plead guilty to the same offenses for which Thomas was convicted by the jury.

"The key to the sentence that Trent got is every person (on the jury) had combat experience and understands what happens there," she said. "We are so pleased for his family and for him. These boys were just doing their job and what they were told to do.

John Jodka, father of the only local resident charged in the case, Encinitas Pvt. John Jodka III, also said he was pleased.

"It's well-deserved justice for a hero," the elder Jodka said.

The younger Jodka was the second of the men to plead guilty and is serving the last weeks of an 18-month jail term in the brig at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station,

The Marine Corps would not allow reporters to speak with any jury members; prosecutors would not comment.

What's ahead

Thomas said he intends to gather this morning with a group of people who rally at the gate on Saturdays in support of the accused Marines.

"I just want to thank all the people who have stood by us," said Thomas, who was on his third tour in Iraq when the killing took place.

Thomas was processed out of the base brig Friday afternoon. Brig rules mandate that he will not be allowed to visit his squad mates for at least six months.

Whether the decision in his case will affect the sentences given to the other defendants remains to be seen.

Lt. Gen. James Mattis is the convening authority over the case as head of Camp Pendleton's I Marine Expeditionary Force and has the authority to reduce jail terms.

The first man to plead guilty, the squad's Navy medical Corpsman Melson Bacos, was released earlier this year. Jodka is slated to be freed next month.

Lance Cpls. Tyler Jackson and Jerry Shumate Jr. each received a 21-month term as a result of their plea deals.

The Hamdania case is separate from the ongoing court hearings involving another group of base Marines accused of wrongdoing in the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in the city of Haditha in 2005.

Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.