A local Marine who pleaded guilty to taking part in the kidnapping and the gruesome killing of Iraqi civilian says the crime was "a bad mistake in a bad situation."

Pvt. Robert Pennington of Mukilteo was one of eight soldiers charged in the murder of a disabled Iraqi man last year. And he doesn't hide his guilt.

"It was the wrong decision but (it was) the decision we made at the time," he said. "One of the horrible things that happens."

On April 26th, 2006, that wrong decision led to the death of Hasham Ibraham Awad.

"He was kind of just the next guy down the road," Pennington said.

Pennington was in the city of Hamdaniya with six other Marines and a Navy corpsman, searching for an insurgent Pennington calls "the worst in his three tours of duty."

"He had been operating IED attacks, sniper attacks, kidnappings, ransoms," he said.

But when the men couldn't find the insurgent, Pennington says they went searching for another target.

The men kidnapped Awad from hiss bed, tied him up and shot him. Then the men planted an AK-47 and a shovel nearby to make Awad look like an insurgent planting a bomb.

"To make it seem as though the shoot was good. It was a good shot, so there wouldn't be much investigation," he said.

But there was an investigation. And Pennington and the other Marines were locked up at the brig in Camp Pendleton.

"Leg shackles, hand irons, that has to be one of the most degrading things I've ever done in my life," he said.

At home in Mukilteo, family and friends rallied behind Pennington and insisted on his innocence. His father, Terry Pennington even suggested the military had coerced a confession out of his son by torturing him.

"By denying water and a bathroom for eight hours while you're in his face, asking him questions, accusing him of murder, I think is torture," he said.

But Pennington pleaded guilty to kidnapping and conspiracy to murder in exchange for a lesser sentence, and hasn't been trying to hide his guilt since.

He was given eight years in prison, but the military released him last month, citing his age, experience and rank.

"The feeling of relief that washed over me was so immense. It was just incredible," he said.

"He has learned and paid for this and I would like for him to be able to get on with his life," said Deanna Pennington, his mother.

Pennington faces a dishonorable discharge.

All eight members of Pennington's squad were initially charged with murder and kidnapping. Five, including Pennington, cut deals with prosecutors in exchange for testimony and received sentences ranging from one to eight years in prison.

Two of the three defendants who went through courts-martial were released from the brig at the end of their trials.

Pvt. Lawrence Hutchins III was the only squad member convicted of murder. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.