By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com
Two former Blackwater employees have been convicted in federal court in of involuntary manslaughter while working Afghanistan in 2009.
Justin Cannon, 27, of Corpus Christi, Tex. and Christopher Drotleff, 29, of Virginia Beach, Va., were convicted Friday in Norfolk U.S. District Court. Both were working for Blackwater as contractors for the U.S. Department of Defense in Afghanistan. They were acquitted of other charges including second-degree murder.
The Justice Department said evidence at trial showed Cannon and Drotleff left their military base without authorization and joined a convoy transporting local interpreters.
Following a traffic accident involving one of the vehicles in the convoy, Cannon and Drotleff fired multiple shots into the back of a civilian car that tried to pass the accident scene, the Justice Department said.
The passenger of the car was fatally shot, the driver was seriously injured and a man walking his dog was also killed.
