Last month, he pleaded guilty to those charges in exchange for a five-year sentence.

Jairo Gil also pleaded guilty yesterday in exchange for a sentence of six years to life.

His best hope, Mr. Lopez was told, was to plead guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence of seven years to life.

The elder of the two approached him, and tried to plead for a milder sentence.

James M. Clark, who worked as a private investigator and an Army paralegal, would plead guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence.

The defense lawyer tends to be a supplicant, pleading for a shorter sentence instead of advocating a client's innocence.

One of the suspects pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in exchange for a sentence of three to six years in prison.

He later agreed to plead guilty to assault in exchange for a reduced sentence, prosecutors said.

Mr. Rivera accepted a deal with prosecutors in which he pleaded guilty to failure to report a crime, in return for a sentence of probation.

Private Clagett is the third of four soldiers charged with premeditated murder in the case to plead guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence.