Military prosecutors want Bowe Bergdahl to serve 14 years in prison
FORT BRAGG, N.C. – Military prosecutors urged an Army judge Thursday to sentence Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl to 14 years in prison and issue a punitive discharge for his deserting a combat outpost in Afghanistan in 2009.
Defense attorneys said Bergdahl, who was captured and held in captivity by Taliban-linked militants for five years, has already suffered enough and should receive a dishonorable discharge but no prison time.
The recommendations came in the last day of testimony in a punishment hearing for Bergdahl. The military judge, Col. Jeffery Nance, began deliberations after both sides finished their arguments.
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Bergdahl, 31, has pleaded guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. He faces a potential life sentence.
"It wasn't a mistake," Maj, Justin Oshana, a prosecutor, told the court. "It was a crime."
Bergdahl’s decision to walk off his post endangered hundreds of soldiers in the desperate manhunt to find him after he abandoned his post, Oshana said. Three servicemen were seriously injured during the search and Oshana displayed photos of the men during his closing arguments.
A defense attorney, Capt. Nina Banks, said Bergdahl was tortured for the five years he was in captivity. He was kept in a metal cage, beaten and nearly starved during much of that time.
“Sgt. Bergdahl has been punished enough,” Banks said.
Bergdahl repeatedly tried to escape from Taliban custody, Banks said. "He didn't give up," she said.
She said Bergdahl suffered from a personality disorder even before he enlisted and was not aware of all the consequences of his actions.
Bergdahl said he abandoned his post in 2009 because he was dissatisfied with the way his unit was conducting the war and wanted to get the attention of top commanders.
During six days of testimony at the punishment hearing the brutality and chaos of war in Afghanistan was recounted in a sterile brick courthouse at this military base.
Bergdahl's case is rare in the annals of military justice, forcing the judge to weigh the soldier's brutal treatment at the hands of the Taliban against the crime of abandoning his comrades at a remote outpost.
Bergdahl has sat upright at a table flanked by his defense attorneys during the hearing, which began last week.
On Monday, Bergdahl made a tearful apology for his decision to leave the post.
The case has generated a storm of controversy since President Obama announced in 2014 that he had won Bergdahl’s freedom by agreeing to release five Taliban militants from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
President Trump called Bergdahl a "dirty rotten traitor."
Nance had earlier rejected a defense motion to dismiss the case based on Trump’s remarks, saying he would not be influenced by his remarks.
But on Thursday Banks referred to Trump’s criticism of Bergdahl, suggesting his words caused the soldier even more pain by helping to turn the public against him.
“Those words have meaning,” Banks said.
Nance explained that the type of discharge he received could have an impact on whether Bergdahl would be eligible to receive veterans benefits.
Bergdahl suffers from post-traumatic stress and a pre-existing personality disorder, according to defense witnesses.