Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl narrowly avoided jail time for wandering off his military base in Afghanistan eight years ago.
The 31-year-old former Taliban hostage faced up to life in prison after pleading guilty to desertion and misbehavior in front of the enemy.
Despite the plea, he endured a lengthy sentencing hearing highlighted by emotional veterans wounded searching for him and a doctor who suggested Bergdahl was schizophrenic when he wandered off the base.
But Col. Jeffrey Nance, the military judge who handed down Bergdahl’s fate, decided a lengthy prison sentence wasn’t warranted.
The sentencing ends a nearly decade-long drama that began at an Afghan outpost and ended in a North Carolina military courtroom.
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