article_snippet.sent: A federal jury convicted the four in October after a lengthy trial that saw some 30 witnesses travel from Iraq to testify against the security contractors.
article_snippet.sent: The case was initially dismissed in 2008 after a judge found the Justice Department withheld key evidence and violated the rights of the contractors.
article_snippet.sent: A federal appeals court reversed the ruling, paving the way for the two-month trial that ended in convictions for the four.
article_snippet.sent: Another contractor, Jeremy Ridgeway, pleaded guilty in 2008 to voluntary manslaughter and attempt to commit manslaughter and testified for the U.S. government.
article_snippet.sent: Another contractor, Jeremy Ridgeway has not yet been sentenced.
article_snippet.sent: Blackwater lost Blackwater $1 billion contract with the Justice Department to protect American diplomatic personnel in 2009, after the U.S. government refused to renew the company's operating license.