Bradley Manning Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison

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According to CNN, Bradley Manning has been sentenced to 35 years in prison by a military judge.  Manning will also have his rank reduced to private, will forfeit his pay and benefits, and will be dishonorably discharged from the military. 

From CNN:
Lind convicted Manning in July of stealing 750,000 pages of classified documents and videos and disseminating them to WikiLeaks. He was found guilty of 20 of the 22 charges against him, including violations of the U.S. Espionage Act.

Prosecutors have said Manning acted as a "determined insider" in leaking classified information about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and should be locked up for at least 60 years.

Manning's lawyer contends he can be rehabilitated and should not "rot in jail."

"There may not be a soldier in the history of the Army who displayed such an extreme disregard" for his mission, Capt. Joe Morrow, the prosecutor, said Monday during final sentencing arguments.
The entire CNN story is available here.  A New York Times article is available here.

Earlier this year, Manning was found not guilty of aiding the enemy, a charge that could have carried a sentence of life in prison.  He was found guilty of lesser charges, including violations of the Espionage Act, stealing government property, and a single violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.  See earlier post regarding his not guilty verdict here.

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