Anti-drug law could draw 30-year sentence for Blackwater shooters RAW STORY

Published: Thursday December 4, 2008





Print This Email This Blackwater Worldwide guards who fired on Iraqi civilians in a 2007 massacre that left 17 dead, including young children, may actually meet the business-end of justice.



According to a recent report, the Department of Justice may use an anti-drug law intended to fight the 80's crack epidemic to put the gunmen away for up to three decades, minimum.



While no drugs were involved in the killings, the government's attorneys may attempt to apply a clause in the 1988 Anti-Drug Abuse Act that requires a 30-year sentence for any violent crime committed with a machine gun.



Blackwater International, a North Carolina-based mercenary group, defended the shooters as recently as August, claiming the killing spree was "self defense." A witness to the massacre called the scene "a horror movie," in a 2007 report.



According to officials, charges could be announced as early as Monday.



