A military judge on Tuesday scaled back the maximum time that Bradley Manning could serve behind bars, from 136 years to 90 years, after ruling that many of his charges were related enough to be combined.
Defense attorneys hailed the decision, The Associated Press reported. They had fought for their client, an Army private, to receive a maximum of 80 years in jail.
The cut doesn’t mean Manning will get out any time soon, however. The 25-year-old will more than likely spend the remainder of his life behind bars at one of the nation’s most notoriously tough prisons, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, AP said.
Manning was convicted last week of 20 counts related to his release of tens of thousands of classified and sensitive government documents to WikiLeaks for publication.
Manning’s defense was he released the documents to expose wrongdoing on the part of the military and that he never intended to cause damage to America.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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