Judge reaches decision in Bergdahl sentencing

A military judge has reached a decision in Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s sentencing, according to CNN.

Journalists have been called back to the Fort Bragg, N.C., courtroom where Bergdahl’s sentencing hearing has been held over the last week, according to the cable news outlet.

Bergdahl pleaded guilty last month to charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

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Prosecutors recommended a sentence of 14 years in prison. Defense attorneys, meanwhile, have asked for no prison time, citing Bergdahl’s time in Taliban captivity.

Bergdahl walked off his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and was held captive by the Taliban until 2014, when then-President Barack Obama made a controversial prisoner swap.

Bergdahl’s defense lawyers twice tried to have the case dismissed over campaign trail comments from President Trump. Trump repeatedly called Bergdahl a traitor who should be executed.

“We’re tired of Sgt. Bergdahl, who’s a traitor, a no-good traitor, who should have been executed,” Trump said at an October 2015 rally, for example.

“Thirty years ago, he would have been shot,” he added. 

The judge in the case, Col. Jeffery Nance, ruled Bergdahl can get a fair trial despite Trump’s comments, but said he would consider them as a mitigating factor in the sentencing.