$80 Million Judgment against Iranian Government in Deadly Terror Attack

In 2025, Corboy & Demetrio continued its success in advocating for military families, collecting a partial payment of an $80 million judgment against the Iranian government in a deadly terror attack that killed a U.S. Army soldier and injured his platoon leader. 

Corboy & Demetrio Managing Partner Ken Lumb, a U.S. Veteran and former Army JAG Corps attorney, obtained the judgment for the family of U.S. Army Sergeant (SGT) Joshua Soto, 25, who died when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in a terrorist attack carried out on June 16, 2009, in Tallil, Iraq, and for Soto’s platoon leader, Captain (CPT) Miles M. Murray, also 25, who was injured in the attack.

On March 31, 2024, U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood granted Ken Lumb’s request for a default judgment. The Court awarded Plaintiff, Platoon Leader Miles Murray, $7 million for pain and suffering and $21 million in punitive damages.

The judge awarded Plaintiff, Thelma Soto, Joshua Soto’s widow, $8 million in compensatory damages and $24 million in punitive damages and awarded the couple's minor son, Jayden W. Soto, $5 million in compensatory damages and $15 million in punitive damages.

The total award for the soldiers and the estate: $80 million.