CAMP PENDLETON -- An Encinitas Marine who until now has steadfastly maintained his innocence is expected to plead guilty next week for his role in the April 26 killing of an Iraqi man, the Marine's attorneys said Friday.

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The deal would make Pfc. John Jodka III the second of eight Camp Pendleton men to admit to taking part in the kidnapping and slaying of Hashim Ibrahim Awad.

Jodka, 20, is expected to plead guilty to assault and obstruction of justice, said Joseph Casas, one of the young Marine's two civilian attorneys.

Like his co-defendants, Jodka is charged with murder, kidnapping and a host of related offenses in Awad's death in the Iraqi village of Hamdania.

Casas declined to provide specific details on the sentence he expects his client to receive.

"I can't talk about any negotiations with the government, assuming there are any," he said.

Jodka is the youngest of the defendants and the lowest-ranking among the seven Marines and Navy corpsman charged in the case. He also was the least experienced, having been only four months into his first deployment in Iraq when the killing took place.

Through his attorneys and family members, Jodka has said from the beginning that he was not guilty of any wrongdoing.

His father, John Jodka Jr., a vocal critic of the prosecution, said he will forever be proud of his son.

"It's too soon for me to respond other than to say that I'm as proud of my son as the day he went in the Marines," he said. "He was the best damn PFC in Iraq."

Jane Siegel, Jodka's other hired attorney, said she believes the deal is a proper resolution for her client.

"I think that he wants to do the right thing, and I think he is," she said.

Jodka is scheduled to face a military judge in a Camp Pendleton courtroom at 9 a.m. Thursday. He will not be sentenced until some time before Thanksgiving, his attorney said.

The plea deal was first reported on the North County Times Web site early Friday afternoon.

On June 21, the Marine Corps charged the men with dragging the 52-year-old Awad out of his home, marching him about 1,000 yards, placing him in a makeshift dirt hole and shooting him to death.

They also were accused of placing a stolen AK-47 and a shovel next to the body of the retired Iraqi policeman and father of 14 children to make it appear he was an insurgent planting a roadside bomb, and then lying about it.

According to charges, Jodka was among five men said to have fired on Awad.

When Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson Bacos pleaded guilty on Oct. 6 to his role in the killing, he implicated two squad mates as triggermen: Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins, the squad leader, and Cpl. Trent Thomas, a fire team leader in the platoon.

Bacos said during his Oct. 6 court-martial that Hutchins fired three rounds into Awad's head and that Thomas fired as many as 10 bullets into the man's chest.

The corpsman's testimony came as he pleaded guilty to kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap and make false official statements. In exchange for his plea, he was sentenced to 12 months in the brig with credit for 142 days served and an agreement he testify for the prosecution.

The squad was out looking for another man, one believed to be an insurgent, Bacos said, but settled for Awad when they could not find their original target.

Bacos' testimony represented the first public airing of what may have happened. At all the other hearings for the accused men, the investigative officers overseeing the proceedings agreed to review the bulk of the evidence in private.

A Marine Corps spokesman declined to confirm the Jodka agreement.

"It would be inappropriate for me to comment on any potential negotiations between the government and defense counsel," Lt. Col. Sean Gibson said Friday afternoon.

The accused men are all members of Camp Pendleton's 2nd platoon of Kilo Company attached to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment.

Jodka attended elementary and middle school at St. James Academy, a Catholic school in Solana Beach. He graduated from San Dieguito Academy high school in 2004 and spent an academic quarter at UC Riverside before deciding to enlist as a Marine.

In May 2005, Jodka shipped off to boot camp, and in January was sent to Iraq. He was there when he turned 20 in April -- less than four weeks before Awad's death.

The military opened an investigation into the incident about a week after it occurred. By mid-May, the eight accused squad mates were under house arrest in Iraq.

The men were flown back to Camp Pendleton two weeks later and placed in the brig there on May 24. Two weeks ago, Jodka and Bacos were moved to the brig at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.

A second guilty plea could have a dramatic effect on the other cases, according to Georgetown University law professor and attorney Gary Solis.

"I hesitate to say it will spur more guilty pleas," Solis said, "but if I were one of the defense counsel I would be foolish if I didn't say to my client 'Why don't we look into the possibility of a plea deal? If we can get something like this, would you be interested?'"

A retired Marine who spent more than two decades as a military lawyer and judge, Solis said potential jurors in any trials for the remaining defendants were more than likely to be aware of the deals that prosecutors reached with Bacos and Jodka.

"Theoretically, it's supposed to have no effect because each case is tried individually. But practically speaking, it would be hard to ignore and difficult for a juror not to realize these other cases are going at a lower price."

He added that a second plea deal is not all that surprising given the apparent strength of the government's case based on statements each manmade to Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents in Iraq when confronted shortly after Awad's death.

"The government seemingly has such strong evidence, so for someone to flip and make a deal to testify for the prosecution is not exactly shocking," Solis said.

Diann Shumate, mother of co-defendant Lance Cpl. Jerry Shumate Jr., seemed discouraged when told of the news when reached at her home in western Washington state.

"They are really putting the pressure on these guys," she said, declining further comment.

Her son lost a bid for release from the brig last week and has reserved his right to enter a plea against the charges he faces.

Despite the guilty plea by Bacos and now the apparent Jodka deal, supporters of the men who have conducted rallies in front of the Camp Pendleton gate each Saturday since the summer are expected there again today, albeit in far smaller numbers.

A rally organizer, Christine Bruce, said this week that the demonstrators numbered about a dozen last Saturday compared with more than 100 when they first began months ago.

"People are sort of feeling now like there's just a lot that we don't know and we will just watch and see what happens," Bruce said.

Participants were disappointed when word of the Bacos deal came, she added.

"But we don't know his full story and his reasons for doing what he did," she said in reference to the corpsman.

Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 631-6624 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com. Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.

Fast Facts

The following is the status of seven Marines and Navy corpsman charged

with killing a 52-year-old Iraqi man in the village of Hamdania on April 26. Each remain in custody in the brig at either Camp Pendleton or Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.

Petty Officer Melson Bacos, 21, Franklin, Wis.:

Pleaded guilty Oct. 6 to kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap and making false official statements. In exchange, Bacos was given a 12-month jail sentence -- with 142 days credit for time served -- and an agreement that he testify for the government.

Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III, 22, Plymouth, Mass.:

Article 32 investigative hearing conducted Monday. Awaiting hearing officer's recommendation to Lt. Gen. James Mattis as to whether he should be ordered to trial.

Lance Cpl. Tyler Jackson, 23, Tracy:

Waived Article 32 hearing and has been ordered to trial.

Pfc. John Jodka III, 20, Encinitas:

Set to appear at a court-martial Thursday to plead guilty to assault and obstruction of justice, his attorneys said Friday.

Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, 23, Manteca:

Ordered to trial by Lt. Gen. Mattis. Pleaded not guilty during arraignment proceeding last month. Trial is set for Feb. 1.

Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington, 22, Mukilteo, Wash.:

Waived Article 32 hearing and has been ordered to trial.

Lance Cpl. Jerry Shumate Jr., 21, Matlock, Wash.:

Ordered to trial by Lt. Gen. Mattis. Reserved the right to enter plea to charges at a later date during arraignment Friday. Trial is set for Feb. 12.

Cpl. Trent D. Thomas, 24, St. Louis, Mo.:

Waived Article 32 hearing and has been ordered to trial.