CAMP PENDLETON ---- A Marine officer who once faced possible imprisonment for assaulting Iraqi detainees last year has been given a letter of reprimand, restricted to base for 30 days and ordered to forfeit half of his pay for one month.

The punishment meted out Thursday to 2nd Lt. Nathan Phan stemmed from his role in the handling of three suspected insurgents in the village of Hamdania northwest of Baghdad last spring.

"Lt. Phan and his family are very happy with the results," said David Sheldon, Phan's lead attorney. "His only wish now is that he be allowed to continue to serve in the Marine Corps that he loves."

Phan, 24, commanded a platoon from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. Eight men under his command were charged last June with the slaying of a retired policeman in Hamdania in April 2006, a killing in which Phan was not accused of participating in or knowing about beforehand.

An investigation of the homicide case led to the assault charges against Phan in August along with one count of filing a false statement.

The charges accused the Sacramento-area native of taking part in the beating of three insurgent detainees in the weeks before the homicide and misleading commanders on whether one of the detainees was still in his custody.

Following a tumultuous five-day hearing at Camp Pendleton in January, Phan was ordered to court-martial on two of the assault charges. The court-martial was rescinded, however, when Phan agreed earlier this year to admit he did not precisely follow all the regulations in his treatment of the detainees.

Five of the eight men charged in the homicide case reached plea deals and were sentenced to jail terms ranging from 12 months to eight years. As part of his settlement with prosecutors and Mattis, Phan will be required to testify at upcoming trials of the remaining three defendants if called.

As part of his deal with prosecutors, Phan admitted exceeding "the permissible limits of the official rules of engagement regarding interrogation of insurgents."

He also acknowledged ordering squad Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III, a defendant in the homicide case, to use a "blood choke" hold on one detainee, rendering that man unconscious, and he admitted pointing an unloaded pistol at another detainee.

The sanctions Phan received were decided Thursday morning by Lt. Gen. James Mattis during an appearance before the general in what the Marine Corps calls a "nonjudicial punishment." The letter of reprimand will go into Phan's permanent personnel record. Mattis suspended 30 days of a 60-day base restriction and suspended one month of his order that Phan be put on half-pay for two months.

Mattis serves as the convening authority over Marines accused of criminal activity as head of Marine Corps forces in the Middle East and as head of Camp Pendleton's I Marine Expeditionary Force.

Sheldon said he believes the punishment is appropriate.

"He made a minor mistake in judgment but in the end is an outstanding officer," the attorney said during a telephone interview.

Sheldon also said the result is a repudiation of the recommendation of the hearing officer that presided over the case and recommended Phan face trial on charges of assault as well as conduct unbecoming an officer. Phan could have been sentenced to 10 years in prison if convicted of the criminal assault charges