U.S. Army private Bradley Manning, convicted of disclosing a vast collection of U.S. classified information to an anti-secrecy web site, is expected to be sentenced Wednesday at Fort Meade military base in the eastern state of Maryland.
U.S. military judge Colonel Denise Lind said she expects to hand down a sentence by mid-morning, local time.
Lind has convicted Private First Class Manning, 25, of 20 offenses including espionage, for disclosing more than 700,000 classified documents to the anti-secrecy site Wikileaks. It is the largest leak of secret information in U.S. history and could bring Manning a sentence of up to 90 years in prison.
In closing arguments Monday, Army prosecutor Captain Joe Morrow said Manning should be sentenced to a 60-year term, calling Manning's leak of U.S. State Department diplomatic cables and American battlefield reports from Iraq and Afghanistan "destructive."
But Manning's defense lawyers have pleaded with Lind for leniency, asking for a term of no more than 25 years.
Last week, Manning apologized for hurting the U.S., and he pleaded with Lind for a chance to go to college and become a productive citizen.
Whatever the length of his sentence, the judge has already ruled it will include about three and a half years Manning has served while awaiting trial.
U.S. military judge Colonel Denise Lind said she expects to hand down a sentence by mid-morning, local time.
Lind has convicted Private First Class Manning, 25, of 20 offenses including espionage, for disclosing more than 700,000 classified documents to the anti-secrecy site Wikileaks. It is the largest leak of secret information in U.S. history and could bring Manning a sentence of up to 90 years in prison.
In closing arguments Monday, Army prosecutor Captain Joe Morrow said Manning should be sentenced to a 60-year term, calling Manning's leak of U.S. State Department diplomatic cables and American battlefield reports from Iraq and Afghanistan "destructive."
But Manning's defense lawyers have pleaded with Lind for leniency, asking for a term of no more than 25 years.
Last week, Manning apologized for hurting the U.S., and he pleaded with Lind for a chance to go to college and become a productive citizen.
Whatever the length of his sentence, the judge has already ruled it will include about three and a half years Manning has served while awaiting trial.
