WASHINGTON – A Newport News man is charged with killing a sailor and injuring another in an accident in Kuwait.
Morgan Hanks, 25, a former U.S. Army contractor, was arrested Tuesday by federal authorities in Newport News.
Hanks was indicted earlier this month for the death of Brian Patton and injury of David Morgan in November 2009.
The indictment says Hanks was in Kuwait as a canine handler for Combat Support Associates and Combat Support Associates Ltd., which provided site security and force protection at U.S. Army bases in Kuwait.
The indictment states Hanks was speeding on November 19 and tried to pass an eight-vehicle convoy on a two-lane road and ran into the Patton and Morgan's vehicle.
Patton died; Morgan suffered a serious brain injury and multiple fractures, according to federal investigators.
If convicted, Hanks faces up to 10 years in prison.
Hanks is charged under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA), a statute that gives U.S. courts jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed outside the United States by, among others, contractors or subcontractors of the Department of Defense.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Army’s Criminal Investigative Division and is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorneys Micah D. Pharris and Steven C. Parker of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Hurt for the Eastern District of Virginia.
The Criminal Division announced the formation of HRSP on March 30, 2010. The new section represents a merger of the Criminal Division’s Domestic Security Section (DSS) and the Office of Special Investigations (OSI).
