Stanley was convicted of killing Staff Sergeant Matthew Werner, 30, of Oxnard, Calif., and Specialist Christopher D. Hymer, 23, of Nevada, Mo., in September in Clay Center, about 30 miles west of Fort Riley.
Stanley, of Bismarck, N.D., argued that he had acted in self-defense and to protect another soldier who was there. But prosecutors said he shot the two men to conceal an illegal drug trafficking operation, believing the victims to be informants for Fort Riley police. Stanley and the other soldier, Sergeant Eric Colvin, had acknowledged that he manufactured methamphetamine and grew marijuana at the farmhouse.
Stanley wiped a few tears from his eyes but otherwise was composed when the jury announced its decision.
His family members gasped when the sentence was announced. All were shaking or crying afterward.
Hymer's father, David, said, ''All right!" when he heard the sentence. ''I feel justice is here," he said later. ''It makes me put a close to this."
Stanley read an apology in court Friday.
''I'm so sorry," he said to the victims' families. ''I hope that you will find it in your hearts to forgive me and I hope that this brings peace."
All four soldiers were part of the First Battalion of the 41st Infantry Regiment, Third Brigade, First Armored Division based at Fort Riley. Both Stanley and Colvin were with Bravo Company and had served in Iraq.
