A federal judge rejected arguments Friday from a former civilian contractor in Iraq who said his sentence for possessing child pornography should be lighter to more closely align with what military personnel would face.
Ira L. Waltrip, who drove a bus in Iraq for Houston-based contractor KBR Inc., was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 41 months in prison.
His lawyer argued the term was unfair because Waltrip was doing the same work and taking the same risks in Iraq as would a soldier. He also said military personnel convicted of similar crimes in courts martial typically receive far lighter sentences.
But U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III said contractors should be treated differently, in part because they receive much higher pay.
He wasn't there because he had volunteered to serve his country, Ellis said. He was there to get some money.
Waltrip, who served 13 years in the Army before being honorably discharged in 1990, was making $7,000 a month as a bus driver for KBR.
Prosecutor Jerry Smagala said Waltrip's case is a run-of-the-mill child pornography possession case that happened to take place in Baghdad. He said a lighter sentence wasn't warranted simply because the crimes took place in a combat zone.
Federal public defender Richard McWilliams had cited similar courts martial in which defendants received a year or less of confinement. He said Waltrip should be sentenced as though he were a military member because the military heavily relies on contractors to do dangerous jobs in Iraq.
KBR had fired Waltrip in January 2006 from a contract job at the Al Asad Air Base in Iraq after he was discovered with a collection of pornography that appeared to contain images depicting minors. No charges were filed.
Despite that, KBR rehired Waltrip in December 2006. He was still working for KBR in Iraq in April when he was again discovered with a suspected cache of child pornography, leading to his conviction and sentence on Friday. He was no longer working for KBR when he was charged in May.
KBR has said it made a mistake in rehiring Waltrip.
