In May 2008, the U.S. military ordered a court-martial for Alaa “Alex” Mohammad Ali, a civilian contractor employed as a translator for the Army by L-3 Communications Titan Group, on charges of aggravated assault. Ali was accused of stabbing another contractor during a fight on a base near Baghdad in February 2008. In June 2008, Ali pleaded guilty to wrongfully taking a knife owned by a U.S. soldier, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators (the assault charge was dropped in exchange for his plea), and a military court sentenced him to five months in jail. This is the first time a civilian has been tried by court-martial under a 2006 amendment to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which states that civilian contractors working for the U.S. government can be punished for violations of the UCMJ.