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FRIENDS OF THE FIGHTING 69TH |
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Striving to help the men & women of our Armed Forces! |
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Our many thanks to all of you who donated to the Mario Lozano defense fund, on Thursday October 25, 2007 a tribunal of Italian judges, sitting in Rome, dismissed all charges against SPC Lozano citing lack of jurisdiction over coalition soldiers.
SPC Mario Lozano, Co. A, 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry, New York Army National Guard was indicted for murder in Italy in connection with the death of Italian secret service agent Major General Nicola Calipari. Mr. Calipari was shot and killed while trying to run a U.S. checkpoint along Route Irish in Baghdad, Iraq in March of 2005. Mr. Calipari and other Italian agents had just rescued kidnapped Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, who was wounded in the incident. A complete investigation of the incident exonerated SPC Lozano and the unit clearly acted within the applicable Rules of Engagement. Mr. Calipari’s vehicle was approaching the checkpoint in excess of fifty miles per hour when very clear signals were given to slow down and stop, when those signals were ignored, and Mr. Calipari’s speeding vehicle was less than four seconds from SPC Lozano’s Humvee, warning shots were fired as the car continued to approach defensive action was taken to stop the car by firing into the engine block, unfortunately some rounds entered the vehicle and Mr. Calipari was mortally wounded. The vehicle came to rest less than ten feet from SPC Lozano’s Humvee and had the vehicle been a car bomb SPC Lozano and all of the other occupants of the Humvee certainly would have been in the kill zone. Less than 48 hours prior to this incident SPC Azhar Ali and SPC Wai Lwin, 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry, NYANG were killed by an IED along this same stretch of roadway. In all 19 members of this storied unit gave their lives in service to their country.
The Friends of the Fighting 69th retained renowned New York City criminal defense lawyer Edward W. Hayes and widely recognized international criminal law expert Gregory W. Kehoe, Esq. to lead the defense of Army Specialist Mario Lozano, 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry, New York’s famed Fighting 69th. Messrs. Hayes and Kehoe worked closely with Italian defense attorney Alberto Biffani to clear Mr. Lozano of these baseless charges.
The charges stem from a March 4, 2005 incident along Baghdad’s notorious Route Irish when Italian Secret Service agents were transporting rescued kidnap victim Giuliana Sgrena to Baghdad International Airport for a flight back to Italy. As the Italians approached a U.S. checkpoint they failed to slow down, stop and identify themselves in keeping with then established protocols. SPC Lozano, who was a gunner at the check-point, issued all required warnings to get the vehicle to stop. When the determination was made that the car would not stop SPC Lozano reluctantly opened fire in an effort to disable the vehicle. Unfortunately and tragically agent Nicola Calipari was killed in the incident and Ms. Sgrena was wounded.
Mr. Hayes, a Columbia Law grad, has defended many high profile cases in New York and is a former Bronx prosecutor. Mr. Kehoe, a member of Greenburg Traurig’s Global Litigation Practice, was the lead advisor to the prosecution in the trial of Saddam Hussein and was the assistant U.S. attorney to the Hague for the International Criminal Tribunal; he is originally from New York City and received his law degree from St. John’s University School of Law.
The Friends of the Fighting 69th, www.69thfriends.org, are seeking donations to offset the cost of a vigorous defense of Mario Lozano. Donations can be made on-line at the organization’s website and also at www.defendlozano.org or by check payable to Friends of the Fighting 69th, attn.: SPC Lozano Defense Fund, P.O. Box 7473, FDR Station, New York, NY 10150. |
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SPC Mario Lozano Defense Fund |
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Download Mario Lozano’s Story |
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Background The 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry, New York Army National Guard, widely known as the “The Fighting 69th” is one of the most highly decorated combat units in American history, www.sixtyninth.net, the unit served in some of the most hostile areas in Iraq and suffered the loss of nineteen brave American heroes during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The Friends of the Fighting 69t, is an assumed name of the AOH Charitable Gift Corp., an Internal Revenue Code §501(c)(3) exempt organization that was formed to lend assistance to families of deployed soldiers. The organization has established trust funds for the 16 surviving children of the soldiers from the Fighting 69th who were killed in action in Iraq. For more information please visit www.69thfriends.org or www.aohcharity.org.
Greenburg Traurig, LLP, www.gtlaw.com, is an internationally acclaimed full service law firm with more than 1600 attorneys and governmental affairs professionals in 29 locations throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. The firm is ranked seventh on The American Lawyer's Am Law 100 listing of the largest law firms in the U.S., based on number of lawyers. Additionally, the firm has strategic alliances with firms all over the world including, Milan and Rome.
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