U.S. sergeant pleads guilty to desertion
FORT BRAGG, N.C. •Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured and held by the Taliban for five years after walking away from his post in Afghanistan, pleaded guilty Monday to desertion and endangering his comrades — charges that could put him behind bars for the rest of his life.
“I understand that leaving was against the law,” said Bergdahl, who admitted guilt without striking a deal with prosecutors, meaning his punishment will be up to a military judge when he is sentenced later this month.
The guilty plea brings the highly politicized saga closer to an end eight years after Bergdahl vanished.
President Barack Obama brought him home in 2014 in a swap for five Taliban prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, saying the U.S. does not leave its service members on the battlefield. Republicans roundly criticized Obama, and Donald Trump went further while campaigning for president, repeatedly calling Bergdahl a “dirty, rotten traitor” who deserved to be thrown out of a plane without a parachute.
Bergdahl, 31, has said he walked away from his remote post in 2009 with the intention of reaching other commanders and drawing attention to what he saw as problems with his unit. He told the judge, Col. Jeffrey R. Nance, that he now understands that his actions prompted an intensive search during which some comrades were seriously wounded.
“At the time, I had no intention of causing search-and-recovery operations,” he said in court. “I believed they would notice me missing, but I didn’t believe they would have reason to search for one private.”
Bergdahl, who received a promotion while he was in captivity, pleaded guilty to desertion and misbehaviour before the enemy, a relatively rare charge brought against him for endangering comrades sent to find him.
The misbehaviour charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, the desertion charge up to five years.
Bergdahl told the judge he tried to escape from his captors 12 to 15 times with varying degrees of success. Once, he was on his own for about a week before he was recaptured. Pressed by the judge about his actions, Bergdahl acknowledged endangering his fellow service members.
At his sentencing, set to begin Oct. 23, his years in captivity could be factored in, but the hearing is also likely to feature damning testimony from fellow service members. A Navy SEAL who suffered a career-ending leg wound and an Army National Guard sergeant whose head wound put him in a wheelchair would not have been hurt in firefights had they not been searching for Bergdahl, the judge has ruled.