A Pennsylvania resident directed Kurdish soldiers to kidnap a man in Iraq and “beat, tase, choke, and otherwise physically and mentally abuse” him for 39 days in 2015, federal prosecutors said.
After the victim was kidnapped and taken to an Iraqi military compound, Ross Roggio, 54, of Stroudsburg, suffocated him with a belt and threatened to cut off one of his fingers, in addition to the abuse the man suffered at the hands of the soldiers, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Prosecutors said Roggio was convicted Friday of torture, conspiracy to commit torture, conspiring to commit an offense against the United States and a number of related crimes.
Roggio tortured the man to stop him from interfering with Roggio’s illegal export of firearms parts, prosecutors said. Roggio was developing a weapons factory in the Kurdistan region of Iraq for manufacturing M4 automatic rifles and Glock 9-millimeter pistols, and the victim was a factory employee.
“Roggio brutally tortured another human being to prevent interference with his illegal activities,” Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. said in a news release. “Thanks to the courage of the victim and other witnesses, the hard work of U.S. law enforcement, and the assistance of Estonian authorities, he will now be held accountable for his cruelty.”
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 23. Roggio is facing up to life in prison.
Prosecutors said Roggio is the second person to be convicted of torture since a federal torture statute went into effect in 1994.
