Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years in prison | Politics …

Prosecutors had urged a minimum of 60 years for the U.S. Army soldier who had been convicted for passing classified documents to WikiLeaks.

Bradley Manning is escorted out of a military court facility at Fort Meade, Md., ahead of his sentencing hearing.

Bradley Manning has been sentenced to serve 35 years in prison for turning over hundreds of thousands of classified government documents to WikiLeaks.

Handed down by Colonel Denise Lind on Wednesday, the sentence follows the court's verdict on July 30 that found Manning guilty of nearly all charges against him, though not guilty of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy. Judge Lind had presided over an eight-week court martial in Fort Meade, Md.

Manning's rank will also be reduced from private first class to private, the U.S. Army Military District of Washington said in a press release. He will forfeit all of his pay and allowances and be dishonorably discharged from the military.

Manning could have faced as much as 90 years in jail, though prosecutors had urged a minimum sentence of 60 years. In his closing argument Monday, Capt. Joe Morrow said that a lengthy sentence would deter other soldiers from following Manning's path, the Guardian reported Tuesday.

The defense team had asked for a sentence of no more than 25 years, giving the 25-year-old the opportunity to rebuild his life upon release.

Manning must serve at least one-third of his sentence before he's eligible for parole, the Guardian added. Counted toward that time will be the 1,182 days he served in confinement before the trial and the 112 days of "unlawful punishment" he received in a military brig in Quantico, Va.

David Coombs, Manning's lead attorney, will discuss the sentence at a press conference to take place around 10:30 a.m. PT at the Hotel at Arundel Preserve in Hanover, Md.

Manning had pled guilty to 10 charges and was found guilty of 20 of them, including wrongful possession and transmission of national defense information, theft of government information, unauthorized access to a government computer, wrongful possession and transmission of protected government information, violation of lawful regulations related to his computer use and storage of classified information, and wrongful publication of U.S. intelligence information.

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