CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. A military jury on Friday convicted U.S. marine pilot Capt. Richard Ashby of conspiring to obstruct criminal investigations into a cable car accident that killed 20 people in the Italian Alps last year. Ashby stood at attention and showed no emotion as the verdict was read, and during a subsequent sentencing hearing he said he did not intentionally obstruct investigators by hiding a videotape made during the fatal February 1998 flight.

I want you and everyone to understand that I have never tried to shirk responsibility in the accident and the actions that I did or did not take in regards to the videotape. I don't believe myself or any of the crew had a criminal mind, he said. Ashby, 32, faces up to 10 years in a military prison or dismissal from the military as a result of the guilty verdict, which was handed down in the last of three courts-martial stemming from the accident.

After hearing from nine witnesses in the sentencing phase of the case, the trial at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina was adjourned until Monday, when the jury will deliberate the sentence. (Reuter)