A former U.S. military police commander at the jail that housed Saddam Hussein faced a court-martial Monday for allegedly aiding the enemy by allowing prisoners to use a cell phone, giving special privileges to detainees and inappropriate conduct with an interpreter. Lt. Col. William H. Steele, an U.S. Army reservist from Prince George, Virginia, already pleaded guilty at a pretrial hearing Oct. 7 to three of seven charges he faces. They carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison, forfeiture of pay and dismissal from the Army, according to the U.S. military. He also pleaded not guilty to the remaining charges of aiding the enemy by providing an unmonitored cell phone to prisoners, giving special privileges to detainees, acting inappropriately with an interpreter and failing to obey an order, the Associated Press quoted the military as saying. If convicted, Steele could face life in prison. He initially faced a possible death sentence on the charge of aiding the enemy, which, under U.S. military law, is a capital offense, but a former acting commander general of U.S. forces in Iraq opted to make it a non-capital case, U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Rudolph Burwell said last week. The trial has twice been delayed to give lawyers more time to prepare. A judge alone is hearing the case against Steele.
