Charles Graner

Charles A. Graner Jr. (born November 10, 1968) is an American former soldier who was court-martialed for prisoner abuse after the 2003–2004 Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. Along with other soldiers of his Army Reserve unit, the 372nd Military Police Company, Graner was accused of allowing and inflicting sexual, physical, and psychological abuse on Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib prison, a notorious prison in Baghdad during the United States' occupation of Iraq. On January 14, 2005, Graner was found guilty under the Uniform Code of Military Justice on charges of conspiracy to maltreat detainees, failing to protect detainees from abuse, cruelty, and maltreatment, as well as charges of assault, indecency, and dereliction of duty. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, demotion to private, dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of pay and allowances. Charges of adultery and obstruction of justice were dropped before trial. On August 6, 2011, Graner was released from the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, after serving years of his ten-year sentence. Graner grew up in Baldwin, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. After graduating from high school in 1986, Graner attended the University of Pittsburgh for two years before dropping out to join the Marine Corps Reserve in April 1988. He had the Marine Corps emblem and the letters "USMC" tattooed on his upper right biceps. In 1990, Graner married Staci M. Dean, a 19-year-old from Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania. The couple had two children. Trained as a military policeman, he served in the Persian Gulf War in 1991. He was in the Marines until May 1996, when he left with the rank of lance corporal. Graner was deployed during the Gulf War, serving with the 2nd MP Co, originally of 4th FSSG, 4th Marine Division, a Marine Reserve unit based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. On January 11, 1991, he arrived in Saudi Arabia, taking part in Operation Desert Storm. From there, he traveled to the largest prisoner-of-war camp near the Saudi-Kuwaiti border, where he worked for about six weeks.