Fellow soldier to plead guilty in Sgt. Matthew Gallagher's death

Fellow soldier to plead guilty in Gallagher's death
By SEAN TEEHAN

Army Sgt. Matthew R. Gallagher of North Falmouth

March 15, 2012
The soldier accused of killing Army Sgt. Matthew R. Gallagher of North Falmouth in Iraq in June will plead guilty to manslaughter.

The Army's prosecutor, Capt. Kate Buzicky informed Gallagher's family of the plea deal Tuesday night, Gallagher's mother, Cheryl Ruggiero, said.

Under the deal, Army Sgt. Brent McBride, 25, of Fairhope, Ala., will serve a maximum of seven years — in a military or a federal prison — for manslaughter, dereliction of duty and failure to obey a lawful general order, Ruggiero said.

The prosecution previously sought a murder charge, but agreed to the lesser plea after an Army major who oversaw a pretrial hearing deemed the case lacked evidence to prove the charge.

"As a family, we accepted his guilty plea just for closure," Ruggiero said. The prosecution contacted family members before agreeing to the deal. "I just said it's time to bring it to an end. ... (McBride's) been walking a free man all this time."