Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been ordered by a top Army commander to face a court-martial on charges of desertion and endangered troops following his decision to leave his outpost in 2009, which ultimately led to him being captured by the Taliban for five years before President Barack Obama traded five high-level terrorist leaders for his release.
Following his release from captivity in May 2014, Bergdahl, 29, was charged with one count of desertion, which carried a maximum penalty of five years, and one count of endangering troops sent to search for him, which carried a maximum of life in prison, according to The New York Times.
However, an Army lawyer who presided over the preliminary hearing in Texas in September recommended that Bergdahl not receive a jail sentence since it would be "inappropriate." Instead, he recommended that he go before a tribunal known as a "special court-martial" where the worst sentence Bergdahl could have received is a year of confinement.
Gen. Robert B. Abrams, head of Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., and the one who ordered Bergdahl to face a court-martial, decided to ignore the recommendation, meaning that Bergdahl now faces a possible life sentence if he is convicted of misbehavior before the enemy like what was expected prior to the recommendation, according to ABC News.
Eugene Fidell expressed disappointment over the development saying that he hoped that he had hoped the case wouldn't go in this direction. "The convening authority did not follow the advice of the hearing officer who heard the witnesses," he said. "We will continue to defend Sgt. Bergdahl as the case proceeds."
The arraignment hearing date at Fort Bragg, N.C., will be announced at a later date, according to FOX News.
