Former CIA Contractor Passaro May Be Sentenced Today

David Passaro was convicted last year for assaulting an Afghan detainee who later died. He is expected to learn his sentence today.

Posted 11:05 a.m. Feb 13, 2007 — Updated 12:52 p.m. Feb 13, 2007

A former CIA contractor from Lillington convicted of assaulting an Afghan detainee is scheduled to be sentenced Monday in Raleigh.

Prosecutors said David Passaro, a former Special Forces medic, beat Abdul Wali with a flashlight and kicked him over two days while interrogating him in July 2003 at a U.S. base in northern Afghanistan. He died the following day.

In August 2006, Passaro was the first American civilian charged with mistreating a detainee during the war on terror.

U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle, who refused Passaro's request to overturn the conviction, said the evidence supported the verdict. Boyle said the lack of an autopsy probably kept Passaro from being charged with murder.

Passaro, who is in custody, faces up to 11 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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