FORT BENNING Ga. — An Army medic pleaded guilty Tuesday to the shooting death of a fellow soldier in Iraq during a night of heavy drinking.
Spc. Chris Rolan, 23, initially was charged with premeditated murder in the Nov. 16, 2005, death of Pvt. Dylan Paytas, 20, while the two were serving with Fort Benning's 3rd Infantry Brigade in Iraq. He pleaded guilty to unpremeditated murder and other charges under a deal with prosecutors.
The two soldiers had been arguing at Camp Warhorse in Baqouba, Iraq, when Rolan shot Paytas four times with his Army-issue 9 mm pistol, according to witness testimony.
Both were assigned to a combat team that helped lead the 2003 charge to Baghdad. Rolan, of Albuquerque, was in the 18th month of his second tour in Iraq at the time.
Rolan's court-martial had been set to begin Tuesday morning. Instead, he accepted the agreement to plead guilty to unpremeditated murder, violating a general order against drinking in Iraq, communicating a threat and reckless endangerment.
Officials said he could face life in prison when he is sentenced.
In addition to the charges involving Paytas, Rolan had been charged with assaulting and threatening to kill a 25-year-old soldier from Texas during an earlier drinking episode.
Rolan also had been accused of shooting at his roommate, Pvt. Mastermichael Ramsey of Milwaukee, on the night Paytas was killed, but the Army dropped that charge without explanation.
Ramsey had delivered the only eyewitness testimony at Rolan's Article 32 hearing last May.
He testified that he, Rolan and Paytas listened to music, played video games and swilled gin and whiskey on the night of Nov. 15-16, 2005, in violation of Army regulations.
Paytas, of Freedom, Pa., provoked Rolan, and Rolan suggested a wrestling match, Ramsey testified. He said Paytas pinned Rolan and began taunting him.
Rolan said, "I'm not going to have Paytas disrespect me," then shot him, Ramsey testified.
Ramsey now has serious legal problems of his own. After leaving the Army Ramsey and three others were charged with murdering a cab driver in Columbus, Ga., near Fort Benning, during a robbery.