Bowe Bergdahl, Army Sergeant Held Captive By Taliban, Pleads Guilty To Desertion

FORT BRAGG, NC — Bowe Bergdahl, the Army Sergeant who was held captive by the Taliban for half a decade after abandoning his Afghanistan post, told a military judge Monday that he's pleading guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. The prosecution and defense have not agreed to a stipulation of facts in the case, his lawyer said, which indicates they did not reach a deal to limit his punishment.

Bergdahl is charged with endangering his comrades by walking away from a remote post in Afghanistan in 2009. He told the judge he now understands that what he did caused others to search for him. The U.S. Army said Bergdahl asked to enter his plea before the military judge at Fort Bragg. The Associated Press previously reported that he was expected to plead guilty to charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.

It's not clear if Bergdahl, 31, has a deal with prosecutors to limit his punishment, or if he's simply pleading guilty in hopes of leniency from the judge, Army Col. Jeffery R. Nance. The misbehavior charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, while the desertion charge is punishable by up to five years. (For more information on Bergdahl's case and other Fort Bragg stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Watch: Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl Pleads Guilty To Desertion

The guilty plea brings the highly politicized saga closer to an end eight years after Bergdahl's disappearance in Afghanistan set off search missions by scores of his fellow service members. President Barack Obama was criticized by Republicans for the 2014 Taliban prisoner swap that brought Bergdahl home, while President Donald Trump harshly criticized Bergdahl on the campaign trail.

Meanwhile, serious wounds to service members who searched for Bergdahl are expected to play a role in his sentencing. While guilty pleas would allow him to avoid a trial, he'd still face a sentencing hearing in late October. Bergdahl's five years of captivity by the Taliban and its allies also will likely play a role in what punishment he receives.

Bergdahl's punishment won't be known until after the judge holds the sentencing hearing that's expected to start on Oct. 23. Bergdahl, who's from Hailey, Idaho, previously chose to have his case heard by a judge alone, rather than a jury.

Legal scholars have said that several pretrial rulings against the defense have given prosecutors leverage to pursue stiff punishment against Bergdahl. Perhaps most significant was the judge's decision in June to allow evidence of serious wounds to service members who searched for Bergdahl at the sentencing phase. The judge ruled that a Navy SEAL and an Army National Guard sergeant wouldn't have wound up in separate firefights that left them wounded if they hadn't been searching for Bergdahl.

The defense also was rebuffed in an effort to prove President Donald Trump had unfairly swayed the case with scathing criticism of Bergdahl, including suggestions of harsh punishment. The judge wrote in a February ruling that Trump's campaign-trail comments were "disturbing and disappointing" but did not constitute unlawful command influence by the soon-to-be commander in chief.

Defense attorneys have acknowledged that Bergdahl walked off his base without authorization. Bergdahl himself told a general during a preliminary investigation that he left intending to cause alarm and draw attention to what he saw as problems with his unit. He was soon captured.

But the defense team has argued that Bergdahl can't be held responsible for a long chain of events that included many decisions by others on how to conduct the searches.

The military probe of Bergdahl began soon after he was freed from captivity on May 31, 2014, in exchange for five Taliban prisoners. Facing Republican criticism, Obama noted that the U.S. doesn't leave its service members behind.

Bergdahl has been assigned to desk duty at a Texas Army base while his case unfolds.

By JONATHAN DREW, Associated Press

Photo by Jonahtan Drew/Associated Press