NEW YORK - A soldier who admitted he paid someone $500 to shoot him in the leg so he could avoid returning to Iraq won't face felony charges, though his wife and another man who prosecutors say was the gunman were indicted by a grand jury.

“I was hoping for the best, but preparing myself for the worst,” Army Pvt. Jonathan Aponte, 21, told The Daily News. “I went into the grand jury and told the truth, and I think they had sympathy for me.”

Melvin Hernandez, a spokesman for the Bronx District Attorney's Office, said Wednesday that he could not comment on why the grand jury chose not to indict Aponte.

Aponte had claimed he was robbed and shot July 9 but changed his story when police questioned him. He was set to leave on another eight-month tour the same day he was shot.

He told police that he had joked with his wife about getting shot in the leg so he wouldn't have to return to Iraq, but his wife apparently took him seriously and said she knew someone who could do the job.

Aponte still faces misdemeanor charges, including falsely reporting an incident, that could send him to jail for up to a year. His wife, Alexandra Gonzalez, and Felix Padilla were indicted July 27 on felony assault charges.

Aponte's attorney, Marty Goldberg, said the grand jury appears to have had a sympathetic side. “It would have been unduly harsh to indict him considering what he has already been through,” he said.

Aponte and his wife have been free since their July arrest.