LOS ANGELES, Dec 14 (Reuters) - A U.S. Marine convicted of negligent homicide in the 2006 stabbing death of an Iraqi soldier was sentenced on Friday to a bad-conduct discharge and reduced in rank to private.

Lance Cpl. Delano V. Holmes, a 22-year-old reservist from Indianapolis, Indiana, has served 10 months in a military prison and will not spend any more time in custody.

Holmes was sentenced by the same military jury that convicted him on Thursday of negligent homicide in the December 2006 death of the Iraqi soldier, but acquitted him of the more serious charge of unpremeditated murder.

Holmes, the first Marine charged with murdering an Iraqi soldier during the Iraq war, also was found guilty of making a false official statement.

Prosecutors said during the trial that Holmes repeatedly stabbed Munther Jasem Muhammed Hassin on Dec. 31, 2006.

Defense attorneys said the Marine stabbed the Iraqi soldier in self-defense after the soldier refused to put out a cigarette and stop using a cell phone, actions the Marine believed would reveal their position to enemy snipers in the area. (Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Xavier Briand)

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