Santos A. Cardona (May 4, 1974 – February 28, 2009) was a former American soldier and military police dog handler who was convicted of dereliction of duty and aggravated assault in connection with the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse that occurred in 2003-2004.

[1] While deployed to Iraq, Cardona was accused of using his Belgian Malinois dog "Duco", to threaten Iraqis in Abu Ghraib prison.

The prosecution demanded prison time, but a military judge imposed a fine and reduction in rank, and he was required to serve 90 days of hard labor at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Cardona needed 5 more years of military service in order to gain full retirement benefits, but was unable to re-enlist due to provisions of his conviction for the incidents at Abu-Ghraib prison in Iraq.

Cardona and his Working Dog, a German Shepherd named "Zomie", were Killed In Action (KIA) on February 28, 2009, in Uruzgan Province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, when the vehicle he was riding in struck a buried improvised explosive device.