Facing a possible sixty years behind bars, Army Private First Class Bradley Manning is sentenced to thirty-five years in prison for leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks.

T.J. Kirkpatrick, Getty Images
T.J. Kirkpatrick, Getty Images
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Manning is the Army intelligence officer who was convicted of what is being called the biggest military leak in U.S. history.

In the sentencing, the Judge, Army Colonel Denise Lind, considered Manning's more than three and a half years of credit for being detained during the court martial process.

Arraignment of Bradley Manning 02232012
Mark Wilson, Getty Images (Manning Arraignment: February 23, 2012)
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Prosecutors were pushing for a sentence almost twice that which was handed down, stating that Manning was a "determined insider" with "extreme disregard" for his mission.

Manning's attorney said that the twenty-five year old admitted to making a mistake and should not "rot in jail."

The sentencing took place at Fort George G. Meade in Maryland.  Manning was convicted of 20 out of 22 charges, including wrongfully causing intelligence to be published on the internet, after sending hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the website WikiLeaks.  The documents were sent in 2009 and 2010 to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while Manning was serving in Baghdad.

He was found not guilty of the most serious charge, that of aiding the enemy.

Mark Wilson, Getty Images
Mark Wilson, Getty Images
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In addition to prison time Manning's rank is being reduced from "private first class" to "private."  His discharge from the armed services will be classified as dishonorable, and he loses all future pay and military benefits.

 

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