Two Marines convicted of raping an Okinawan schoolgirl in a crime that sparked mass protests against the U.S. military last year have dropped the appeals of their convictions.
Marine Pfc. Rodrico Harp, of Griffin, Ga., and Pfc. Kendrick Ledet, of Waycross, Ga., were convicted by an Okinawan court last September of raping and beating the 12-year-old girl.Ledet was sentenced to 61/2 years in prison and Harp to seven years.
Both had appealed the convictions to the Supreme Court. But a court official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Friday said the appeals had been dropped.
A third serviceman, Navy Seaman Marcus Gill, of Woodville, Texas, was also convicted in the case but chose not to appeal his seven-year sentence.
All three will serve the remainder of their sentences in a special Japanese prison ward for U.S. GIs just south of Tokyo. Upon release, they will be given dishonorable discharges and flown back to the United States.