US Paid $5 Billion & Released 5 Taliban Prisoners For Deserter Bergdahl

[Forever_frost]

Bergdahl pleads guilty to desertion, misbehavior

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/2017/10/16/the-latest-bergdahl-pleads-guilty-to-desertion-misbehavior/?utm_content=tp-facebook&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl told a military judge on Monday that he’s pleading guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.

“I understand that leaving was against the law,” Bergdahl said.

“At the time, I had no intention of causing search and recovery operations,” Bergdahl added, saying that now he does understand that his decision to walk off his remote post in Afghanistan in 2009 prompted efforts to find him.

Bergdahl, 31, is charged with endangering his comrades by walking away from his post. Despite his plea, the prosecution and defense have not agreed to a stipulation of facts in the case, according to one of his lawyers, Maj. Oren Gleich, which is an indication that they did not reach a deal to limit his punishment.

The misbehavior charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, while the desertion charge is punishable by up to five years. He appears to be hoping for leniency from the judge, Army Col. Jeffery R. Nance.

The guilty pleas bring the highly politicized saga closer to an end eight years after his disappearance in Afghanistan set off search missions by scores of his fellow service members. President Barack Obama was criticized by Republicans for the 2014 Taliban prisoner swap that brought Bergdahl home, while President Donald Trump harshly criticized Bergdahl on the campaign trail.

The serious wounds to service members who searched for Bergdahl are still expected to play a role in his sentencing. The guilty pleas allow him to avoid a trial, but he still faces a sentencing hearing that’s expected to start on Oct. 23. Bergdahl’s five years of captivity by the Taliban and its allies also will likely factor into what punishment he receives.

Bergdahl, who’s from Hailey, Idaho, previously chose to have his case heard by a judge alone, rather than a jury.

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Legal scholars have said that several pretrial rulings against the defense have given prosecutors leverage to pursue stiff punishment against Bergdahl. Perhaps most significant was the judge’s decision in June to allow evidence of serious wounds to service members who searched for Bergdahl at the sentencing phase. The judge ruled that a Navy SEAL and an Army National Guard sergeant wouldn’t have wound up in separate firefights that left them wounded if they hadn’t been searching for Bergdahl.

The defense also was rebuffed in an effort to prove President Donald Trump had unfairly swayed the case with scathing criticism of Bergdahl, including suggestions of harsh punishment. The judge wrote in a February ruling that Trump’s campaign-trail comments were “disturbing and disappointing” but did not constitute unlawful command influence by the soon-to-be commander in chief.

Defense attorneys have acknowledged that Bergdahl walked off his base without authorization. Bergdahl himself told a general during a preliminary investigation that he left intending to cause alarm and draw attention to what he saw as problems with his unit. He was soon captured.

But the defense team has argued that Bergdahl can’t be held responsible for a long chain of events that included many decisions by others on how to conduct the searches.

The military probe of Bergdahl began soon after he was freed from captivity on May 31, 2014, in exchange for five Taliban prisoners. Facing Republican criticism, Obama noted that the U.S. doesn’t leave its service members behind.

Bergdahl has been assigned to desk duty at a Texas Army base while his case unfolds.

[ram57ta]

Piece of shit SHOULD get death by firing squad.

[Forever_frost]

Can we hang and shoot him and then use him for a pinata yet?

[SS Junk]

The longer this sentencing decision goes the more I feel it's going to be a fucking slap on the wrist.

[Sgt Beavis]

The longer this sentencing decision goes the more I feel it's going to be a fucking slap on the wrist.

I might lose my damn mind if that happens. That PoS needs to rot for the rest of his life.

[bubbaearl]

but trump talked mean to him .

[LANTIRN]

I don't agree his parents should be held responsible like a few said above; he is an adult and should be held accountable for his actions. I have a different opinion of parents being held responsible for minors breaking the law, however once an adult you are responsible for yourself. Seeing that people died because of him I have no problem wih a firing squad. Although I do not agree with paying money for him, I do agree with a prisoner swap though it should have been 1 for 1, not 5 for 1. Obama was right that we don't leave men behind if at all possible. Indications were he deserted, but for a while there was a small chance that wasn't the case. Now those fuckers who defected to North Korea are a different story since we known for sure they defected and I say letting them rot in that Communist shithole is a good sentence.

So that is my two cents. There was a guilty plea and deaths involved so a firing squad is justified and I hope that is the outcome.

[Trip McNeely]

He should get life in prison and then he can convert to... oh wait.

[Gasser64]

I don't agree his parents should be held responsible like a few said above; he is an adult and should be held accountable for his actions.

Same here. I'd see anyone who shot his parents in the face for his actions, shot in the face. Repeatedly. He's a grown man, he makes his own choices. If he doesn't, then let him go and drop all charges. No point in charging a beast or a machine with a crime. Personal responsibility exists.

[SS Junk]

He should get life in prison and then he can convert to... oh wait.

Dishonorably discharged and probation with time served, if such a thing can be sentenced on military personnel.

[Forever_frost]

Fort Bragg, North Carolina (CNN)[Breaking news update, posted at 11:48 a.m.]

US Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has received a dishonorable discharge but will avoid prison time for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy after abandoning his outpost in 2009, a military judge ruled Friday.
The judge also ruled that Bergdahl's rank be reduced from sergeant to E1. Additionally, Bergdahl will be required to pay a $1,000 fine from his salary for the next 10 months.
[Previous story, posted at 11:09 a.m.]
A military judge has come to a decision in Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's sentencing hearing.
Journalists have been asked to return to the courtroom at Fort Bragg in North Carolina where the trial and hearings have been held.
The Army soldier, who was held captive by the Taliban for five years after he deserted his Afghanistan outpost in 2009, pleaded guilty last month to charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.
Bergdahl was released in May 2014 in a controversial exchange for five Guantanamo Bay detainees.
He originally faced the possibility of life in prison, but the prosecution asked the judge, Army Col. Jeffery R. Nance, for a 14-year sentence. Bergdahl's attorneys asked Col. Nance for a punishment of dishonorable discharge.
Bergdahl previously chose to be tried by a military judge instead of a jury.
Defense: Bergdahl 'should not have been in the Army'
Bergdahl's lawyers asked the judge for leniency during sentencing hearings, arguing he had a previously undiagnosed mental illness when he left his post.
"Hypothetically, he probably should not have been in the Army," said Capt. Nina Banks, one of Bergdahl's military defense attorneys, in her closing argument.
Bergdahl suffered from numerous mental illnesses, including schizotypal personality disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to Dr. Charles Morgan, a forensic psychiatrist and professor at the University of New Haven and Yale University, who testified for the defense Wednesday.
Bowe Bergdahl Fast Facts
Bowe Bergdahl Fast Facts
Morgan said Bergdahl was raised in a tense and sometimes scary household that contributed to social anxiety and cognitive defects that he was suffering from before he enlisted in the Army.
The defense also argued that the information Bergdahl was able to provide upon his return -- and his willingness to share that information and cooperate with investigators -- warranted a more lenient sentence.
Prosecution: Bergdahl put soldiers in danger
But government prosecutors said Bergdahl was aware of the risks when he deserted, and that doing so put his fellow soldiers in danger.
Soldiers who searched for Bergdahl after he deserted were called to testify by the prosecution and shared stories of the grueling conditions they endured while looking for him.
Bowe Bergdahl pleads guilty to desertion, faces up to life in prison
Bowe Bergdahl pleads guilty to desertion, faces up to life in prison
One of the witnesses, Capt. John Billings, was Bergdahl's platoon leader in Afghanistan. Billings said the platoon searched for the then-private first class for 19 days, going without food or water.
Retired Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer James Hatch testified last Wednesday that he and his dog came under fire while looking for Bergdahl. He was shot in the leg, and his K-9 partner, Remco, was shot in the face and killed.
"I thought I was dead," said Hatch, who now walks with a heavy limp after 18 surgeries. He said he was concerned because there was little time to plan the search for Bergdahl, and other soldiers knew he had willfully walked away.
Report: Bergdahl diagnosed with personality disorder 01:28
When asked why he would go searching for Bergdahl, Hatch said, "He is an American."
"He had a mom," he added.
Bergdahl tearfully apologized this week to the service members who searched for him after he deserted.
"My words can't take away what people have been through," he said. "I am admitting I made a horrible mistake."
Investigator said jail time would be 'inappropriate'
Since his return home to the United States, the 31-year-old from Idaho has been the subject of scrutiny while the US military investigated his decision to leave his post.
Bergdahl has said he abandoned his post because he wanted to travel to a larger base to report "a critical problem in my chain of command," though he did not specify what the problem was.
He was charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy in March 2015.
Kenneth Dahl, the Army general who led the investigation into Bergdahl's actions and interviewed the soldier for a day and a half, previously testified in a preliminary hearing that jail time would be "inappropriate."
During his time in captivity, Bergdahl said he was tortured, beaten and spent months chained to a bed or locked in a cage while his health deteriorated. For five years, he said, he was completely isolated, had no concept of time and was told he would be killed and never see his family again.
CNN's Kellie Keesee and Steve Almasy contributed to this report

http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/03/politics/bowe-bergdahl-sentenced/index.html

[Forever_frost]

Fort Bragg, North Carolina (CNN)[Breaking news update, posted at 11:48 a.m.]

US Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has received a dishonorable discharge but will avoid prison time for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy after abandoning his outpost in 2009, a military judge ruled Friday.
The judge also ruled that Bergdahl's rank be reduced from sergeant to E1. Additionally, Bergdahl will be required to pay a $1,000 fine from his salary for the next 10 months.
[Previous story, posted at 11:09 a.m.]
A military judge has come to a decision in Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's sentencing hearing.
Journalists have been asked to return to the courtroom at Fort Bragg in North Carolina where the trial and hearings have been held.
The Army soldier, who was held captive by the Taliban for five years after he deserted his Afghanistan outpost in 2009, pleaded guilty last month to charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.
Bergdahl was released in May 2014 in a controversial exchange for five Guantanamo Bay detainees.
He originally faced the possibility of life in prison, but the prosecution asked the judge, Army Col. Jeffery R. Nance, for a 14-year sentence. Bergdahl's attorneys asked Col. Nance for a punishment of dishonorable discharge.
Bergdahl previously chose to be tried by a military judge instead of a jury.
Defense: Bergdahl 'should not have been in the Army'
Bergdahl's lawyers asked the judge for leniency during sentencing hearings, arguing he had a previously undiagnosed mental illness when he left his post.
"Hypothetically, he probably should not have been in the Army," said Capt. Nina Banks, one of Bergdahl's military defense attorneys, in her closing argument.
Bergdahl suffered from numerous mental illnesses, including schizotypal personality disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to Dr. Charles Morgan, a forensic psychiatrist and professor at the University of New Haven and Yale University, who testified for the defense Wednesday.
Bowe Bergdahl Fast Facts
Bowe Bergdahl Fast Facts
Morgan said Bergdahl was raised in a tense and sometimes scary household that contributed to social anxiety and cognitive defects that he was suffering from before he enlisted in the Army.
The defense also argued that the information Bergdahl was able to provide upon his return -- and his willingness to share that information and cooperate with investigators -- warranted a more lenient sentence.
Prosecution: Bergdahl put soldiers in danger
But government prosecutors said Bergdahl was aware of the risks when he deserted, and that doing so put his fellow soldiers in danger.
Soldiers who searched for Bergdahl after he deserted were called to testify by the prosecution and shared stories of the grueling conditions they endured while looking for him.
Bowe Bergdahl pleads guilty to desertion, faces up to life in prison
Bowe Bergdahl pleads guilty to desertion, faces up to life in prison
One of the witnesses, Capt. John Billings, was Bergdahl's platoon leader in Afghanistan. Billings said the platoon searched for the then-private first class for 19 days, going without food or water.
Retired Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer James Hatch testified last Wednesday that he and his dog came under fire while looking for Bergdahl. He was shot in the leg, and his K-9 partner, Remco, was shot in the face and killed.
"I thought I was dead," said Hatch, who now walks with a heavy limp after 18 surgeries. He said he was concerned because there was little time to plan the search for Bergdahl, and other soldiers knew he had willfully walked away.
Report: Bergdahl diagnosed with personality disorder 01:28
When asked why he would go searching for Bergdahl, Hatch said, "He is an American."
"He had a mom," he added.
Bergdahl tearfully apologized this week to the service members who searched for him after he deserted.
"My words can't take away what people have been through," he said. "I am admitting I made a horrible mistake."
Investigator said jail time would be 'inappropriate'
Since his return home to the United States, the 31-year-old from Idaho has been the subject of scrutiny while the US military investigated his decision to leave his post.
Bergdahl has said he abandoned his post because he wanted to travel to a larger base to report "a critical problem in my chain of command," though he did not specify what the problem was.
He was charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy in March 2015.
Kenneth Dahl, the Army general who led the investigation into Bergdahl's actions and interviewed the soldier for a day and a half, previously testified in a preliminary hearing that jail time would be "inappropriate."
During his time in captivity, Bergdahl said he was tortured, beaten and spent months chained to a bed or locked in a cage while his health deteriorated. For five years, he said, he was completely isolated, had no concept of time and was told he would be killed and never see his family again.
CNN's Kellie Keesee and Steve Almasy contributed to this report

http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/03/politics/bowe-bergdahl-sentenced/index.html

[helosailor]

Fuck that judge. This is bullshit, and a miscarriage of justice. All of what he is getting should have come at the end of 20+ years in prison.

[sc281]

Treason is the new black.

[ram57ta]

Fuck that judge. This is bullshit, and a miscarriage of justice. All of what he is getting should have come at the end of 20+ years in prison.

x2 except he should have been executed.