Bergdahl avoids time after desertion in Afghanistan News
Bergdahl avoids time after desertion in Afghanistan

US Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl avoided prison time but received a dishonorable discharge Friday for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy after abandoning his outpost in Afghanistan in 2009.

Bergdahl was originally facing a potential life in prison sentence, though the prosecutors argued for Bergdahl to spend 14 years in prison for endangering [BBC report] the lives of his fellow soldiers. Army Judge Col. Jeffery R. Nance ruled that Bergdahl’s rank be reduced from sergeant to E1 as well as being docked $1,000 from his pay for the next 10 months.

The sentence will be reviewed by Gen. Robert B. Abrams and could then be reviewed by the US Army Court of Criminal Appeals.

Bergdahl had spent five years in captivity under the Taliban after he was captured from abandoning his post in Afghanistan. Bergdahl pleaded guilty [JURIST report] in October to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.