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No jail time for Bergdahl

by Jonn Lilyea••204

CBS News reports that military judge Colonel Jeffrey Nance decided that Bowe Bergdahl will serve no jail time for his walkabout from his base which resulted in five years captivity by the Haqqani Network of terrorists.

Army Col. Judge Jeffery R. Nance said Bergdahl will be dishonorably discharged and have his rank reduced to private. He issued the ruling Friday after nearly two weeks of sentencing proceedings that included testimony by Bergdahl’s former comrades. Bergdahl, 31, was held by the Taliban for five years before being released in a prisoner swap in 2014.

Really, are you surprised?

The prosecution asked for 14 years and Nance couldn’t even give Bergdahl a day.

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204 thoughts on “No jail time for Bergdahl”

    1. How many vets who got an honorable discharge are serving life in a VA hospital for actually doing their job? This dude positively skated…and as others have said, he has appeals to potentially mitigate further…

      1. How about we find the absolute worst VA hospital in the entire VA Healthcare system, and sentence He Who Shall Not Ever Be Mentioned By Name to receiving his healthcare at that facility for life? Seems fair to me.

  6. Absolutely sickening, but since this is now an army that permits open communists in the ranks, I suppose I’m not surprised.

  7. GAAAAAAAAAWDAMMIT!!! At least the little SHIT got a DD which will haunt him for life as well as DENY HIM all VA benefits. Another comforting thought is that a DD denies one the right to vote or own a firearm. NOW the little SHIT will go through life knowing that the families and friends and comrades of those KIA and WIA while looking for him are also out there, he’ll always have to look over his shoulder and will always be known as the COWARD who abandoned his post in a War Zone!

    1. Don’t count on it. Not all states consider a DD a felony and automatically revoke the right to vote. Also, he’ll just get this upgraded in a few years and get himself a federal job. Think it can’t happen? I’ve seen it. We are truly lost if we can’t even agree a deserter deserves at LEAST life in prison, if not death.

      1. While some of the reaction articles on Bergdahl’s deeds and sentence say, “A dishonorable discharge from the Army is socially stigmatizing”, lets face reality.

        The are some place’s in this country Bergdahl will get the Keys to the City and a ticker tape parade down main street.

        2. Exactly. CNN or MSNBC would be happy to hire him as an “expert” on both the US Army and the Taliban.

          Not to mention in a few years, after he’s become a “model citizen” whispering at cats or some stuff, he’ll get a politically motivated pardoning from another lefty president.

          Here you have it kids, betray your country, get a firm wrist slap.

        3. Sad, but you are right. Just like declaring bankruptcy and having illegitimate children used to be a social stigma.

          I also see book deals down the road.

          Call me an old fogey but this just makes me sick.

    2. I’d keep an eye on things because I’ll bet he’s going to be asking for a DD214 upgrade in the coming years. After this don’t be surprised if he gets it upgraded to an OTH Discharge. The VA recently allowed vets who have PTSD and an less than honorable discharge in for mental health services. Bergdahl will probably end up getting some benefits.

      1. You can bet some proggy VA doc will diagnose him as 100% disabled from the PTS of D, and then Uncle Sambo will be paying him $3K a month while he makes his appearances on all the proggy shows and MSM venues.

    1. Agreed.

      The dude already was jailed by the Taliban for 5 years, and now he is getting a Dishonorable Discharge?

      I would have promoted him straight to First Lieutenant, and fast track him to Captain. He got a wealth of experience in dealing with the Talibs for 5 years. Berghdal would have been a great addition to our intel officer corp.
      We are wasting a gold-mine of intelligence.

      Too bad we don’t have President Obama anymore. He would have fixed this with a phone call.

      1. BWAAAHAAHAHA!!! Yef, you are such a comedian… no one but a total dickhead could have written that with a straight face. Very funny stuff, there!

  9. Might as well skip the Weekend Open Thread, Jonn.

    Comments on this are going to overload your server as it is.

    Damn.

      2. Dammit it’s so hard for me to break the top ten in WOT. I thought I was doing good. Turns out it’s because everybody’s on this thread. Oh well guess I’ll just have to practice my F5 skills next week. Lol

  10. As I said in the other thread: I hope Mr. Trump keeps quiet until after the convening authority pronounces on the sentence, which will only happen after Bergdahl’s attorneys get to submit clemency matters to him.

    If he says something that looks like unlawful command influence on that general, he could create another appeal issue, and convince an appellate court to give Bergdahl relief even from the DD!

    1. Taking off on Ron White’s line – the President has the right to remain silent, but I’m not sure if he has the ability. I hope he is able to keep quiet.

    2. Too Late:

      The decision on Sergeant Bergdahl is a complete and total disgrace to our Country and to our Military.
      — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017

        1. I swear he has the impulse control of a toddler. Goddammit. We’ll be lucky if the DD sticks now.

      2. Can’t really say there command influence from the CINC if the judge gave him the exact opposite sentence the big man wanted.

  11. Saw this in CBS story:

    “Defense attorney Eugene Fidell said the dishonorable discharge will not be final until Bergdahl exhausts his appeals.”

    WTF is there to appeal? He pled guilty and didn’t even get a slap on the wrist?

    1. The defense raised a lot of issues, including unlawful command influence by the President’s most recent remarks. Guilty pleas waive a lot of issues but they don’t waive them all.

      Come to that, if Mr. Trump talks too much, he could raise new UCI issues…not only on the convening authority, but possibly on the Army Court of Criminal Appeals (since that court is full of serving officers).

      Only when it gets to higher levels, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces or the Supreme Court, do you have judges who don’t fall under him in the chain of command.

      1. And you could say that Obama provided UCI as well by having his talking points spewed about “distinction and honor” and having his family visit the white house, etc.

        Not to mention, he was perfectly fine with Ft Hood’s situation being called “Workplace Violence” instead of an islamic extremist attack.

        1. Problem is…that doesn’t fall in terms of the UCI statute (or the case law that has grown up around it). That’s all about protecting the accused, not the prosecution.

          1. That hardly seems reasonable.

            Logically, that means if a CA – or someone superior to him in the chain-of-command – called a military trial judge on the phone saying something to the effect of, “The defendent is a personal friend of mine. I’d REALLY be disappointed if this guy wasn’t acquitted. And I have a VERY long memory.” that wouldn’t be considered UCI.

            Pardon me for observing that that makes no sense whatsoever.

            1. We’ll leave aside the fact that the judges don’t work for the commands…the Army Trial Judiciary is a separate entity (it falls under the U.S. Army Legal Services Agency) precisely so it can’t be influenced by the local command in this way.

              The problem is…if you treated that as UCI…what would be the remedy?

              If you said, “the sentence has to be increased or the guy has to be found guilty to undo the taint of UCI,” then you’ve just violated the accused’s constitutional rights. (In the other direction, by contrast, it makes sense…you dismiss the charges or provide other relief to remove the taint, and you do not violate any rights this way.)

              Note that the CA…or people in his chain of command…have a much easier method of getting their wishes anyway. They can just refuse to refer the case to court-martial in the first place! Or withdraw the charges even after they have been referred.

              (If something like that ever did happen in the accused’s favor, I suspect the judge would inform the parties and offer to recuse himself…as a matter of fairness, whether or not it fell under UCI.)

              1. Sorry, Alberich, but that argument still doesn’t pass the “smell test”. Logically, it doesn’t work.

                If being under a different chain-of-command is sufficient isolation for CA comments or actions in the accused’s favor not to be considered UCI, I can’t see any reason for CA comments detrimental to the accused to be consider UCI either. The military judge is independent either way, right? So what if his higher HQ is 10,000 miles away and the CA’s HQ happens to be next door and owns the local installation? (smile)

                Conversely, it appears to me that it’s eminently logical for BOTH of those situations to be UCI. And yes, there is conceivably a good reason for a CA to pressure a judge to give a light sentence or acquit a personal friend. Human nature being what it is, most GCMCAs want another star – and being GCMCA for a case where they reduced or set aside a sentence for a personal friend is likely NOT going to enhance their chances for promotion. The same is true if it’s a politically-high-profile case and the GCMCA is fully convinced that the trial was a miscarriage of justice and sets aside the result – the “stink” attaches nonetheless.

                Ditto for withdrawing charges without cause, refusing to prefer charges, etc . . . . Word gets around, and promotions at the GO level are as much political as they are merit-based. Timing and luck are also important. Any scandal, or appearance of same, happening during their tenure can be a difference-maker.

                The remedy in such a blatant example as the one I hypothetically proposed? Only one I can see would be for the mil judge so pressured to file a written complaint with the superior of the individual pressuring him with a complaint – with a copy of the complaint provided to TAG. He should IMO accompany that complaint by the offer to recuse himself you mention above.

                A “nuclear option”? It certainly is – but so IMO is a CMCA blatantly trying to influence a military judge either for or against a particular accused. Something that beyond the pale wrong should be dealt with immediately, and at the highest levels.

                FWIW: IMO both of the last two POTUSes “screwed the pooch” here. After assuming office, Trump should have simply said that he’d let the military justice system handle this one, and that he’d comment after the sentence was finalized – then done exactly that. But IMO his predecessor also erred by publicly honoring Bergdahl the Ass and his family at the White House before the investigation into the circumstances of his disappearance had been completed. IMO, neither constituted UCI – but the “optics” for both were incredibly bad. Both were avoidable, and should have been avoided.

    2. (And if the appeals succeed, he could get the DD reduced to a BCD, or even thrown out altogether…in which case Bergdahl could still be administratively discharged, but only with a general discharge under honorable conditions.

      However, he would still be barred from VA benefits because the discharge was based on desertion.)

        1. No. If the judge outright dismisses a charge, the Prosecution can appeal that. But if the judge gives “sentence credit” or a low sentence, the Prosecution can’t appeal, and the convening authority can’t increase the sentence.

          Up through WWI the rules were different…in fact, the commander could even send back a “not guilty” verdict and tell the court-martial to “try again,” but nowadays the sentence pronounced in court is an upper limit and is going to stay that way.

          2. (In WWII a commander could still scold a court-martial panel for pronouncing too low a sentence, and sometimes did…their scoldings were called “skin letters” and could be very harsh…but he couldn’t increase the sentence. Nowadays he can’t do even that much.)

            1. If Bergdall get a book deal and movie, do you think the families of those injured actively looking for him could file a civil suit against him and win.

              1. I don’t see how, honestly. Those of us who hate Bergdahl and what he did — as I do — have gotten all we’re going to get I’m afraid.

                  1. Yeah, but those troopers and their families will ramp up the search once the deserter is a civilian. Little prick will have to be on guard for the rest of his sorry-assed existence. I`m not advocating violence here, but I know of certain people that could make his remaining time on the planet miserable, if`n ya get my drift.

  12. Bernathin justice, CRAP!
    Howe much longer will he in to pay off the $1000.00 a month for ten months? If he is a PV1 move him into an bay room with some hooligans asap. And it will be worth the ART-15 when it happens.

  13. I’ve about given up. Evidently Obama’s butt buddies control everything. Maybe Clarence Thomas was right in his interview – he doesn’t know what holds us together any more. It appears there is nothing left.

  15. How did I know that this would happen. Is this Quiff judge Nance/Nancy an obama hold over.

  17. Words just fucking fail me!

    I’m heading outside to some fresh cool air, walk around a bit and try to get my arms around this decision. It may take awhile.

    Fuck Bergdahl! Fuck the Judge! Fuck his defense attorneys. Fuck the defense attorneys witnesses! Fuck Obama! Fuck everyone who supported Bergdahl!!

    My thoughts and prayers to the families of the wounded and the troops that were wounded during their missions in searching for this totally worthless piece of shit!!

    1. While I agree with most of your sentiments, go easy on the defense lawyers. As I understand it, JAGs work both sides of the trial as they are assigned. They really are just doing their duty in defending him.

  18. I thought they’d at least go after the years of Active Duty pay he continued to receive while in “captivity”.
    I sure hope Judge Judy Nance reaps what he’s sown today.

    1. I really want to know how the judge can hear a week’s worth of testimony from the victims of Bergdahl’s cowardice and still hand down this pittance of a sentence?

      How can you live with yourself, sir?

  19. It also said pay equal to $1000/mo for 10 months

    It didn’t mention ALL pay an allowances

    Which means the fuckstick gets the rest of his back pay from the time he was held prisoner

    Unbelievable

  20. Sonofabitch!

    ‘exhausts his appeals’ – there will be no appeals if he is simply reduced to rank and given his walking papers.

    Just commit his name to mamory and use it as a pejorative – a really, really scathing reference to shameless shamefulness.

    And Nance, you’re an asshole.

    1. Appeal is automatic…and his lawyer has already said he’s going for it and hoping to have it overturned.

      1. Don’t wrinkle my daydreams, Big Guy. I have to have something to cling to. Appeals can be denied.

  21. by his own words, admitted to leaving his post and his fellow soldiers in field of combat.
    reduced in rank to private. he should not have a rank. his name should be erased.

  24. Does little shit stain have to stay on active duty while his appeal is pending?

    I’m slightly okay with his no prison time. Because as long as that little shit stain is under the control of the military (AD or prison) the government is responsible for his medical care. And remember what fun it was with Manning when it was determined that we (the taxpayers) were responsible for assisting that turd burglar achieve it’s dream of being a freak show.

    Should’ve been a forfeiture of ALL pay and allowances AND a fine equal to all back pay received for time playing chai boy for the Haqqani goat pumpers.

    Good luck being the “cat whisperer” you disgusting piece of shit

    1. His pay for the time while in captivity is held in an interest bearing account by the Government until the sentencing

      Now it looks like he’ll get that chunk

    2. While I wish he had gotten at least life in prison, I hadn’t considered it from the medical care angle.

  27. Entirely predictable, and is the reason his attorney chose a trial by judge instead of jury. He knows most JAG officers are pussy’s who never spent a day in a line unit (and no, I don’t count being a JAG in a BN or BDE HQ to be in a line unit). It wasn’t until I got off AD a got a law degree that I realized how full of shit they often are.

  28. So now this traitorous little shitbird goes free with nothing more than a DD, and it’s off to the TV talk show circuit where he’ll be lauded as a ‘hero’ for having so much ‘courage’ and for surviving his ‘ordeal’, and the multi-million dollar book and movie deals are undoubtedly already in the works.

    Thanks, Colonel Nance.

  30. So, Bergdahl gets a $10,000 fine, a dishonorable discharge, and no prison time for endangering his comrades, desertion, and misbehavior in front of the enemy.

    I want to go home for the birth of my first child, but I’m this shithole. What is the “new” punishment for AWOL?

    1. And by shithole…I mean Afghanistan…my fifth time here, so I get gold star treatment. All the bottled water I can drink…

    2. Congrats to you, Evil! Thoughts and prayers for you, your wife and your unborn child. Hope you see them soon.

  31. At this moment I feel absolute contempt for the Military Judicial System.

    And Bergdahl is beneath even that contempt.

  34. Okay, okay, simmer down, all of you.

    You’re as peeved as I am. But as someone suggested yesterday that it may be off to the talk show circuit and movie and book deals for this useless spore of the taliban, there is possibly some recompense which has been used before.

    The people who were injured in the search for this waste of his mother’s eggs can and should sue the little basterd in court to recoup their losses by being the recipients of any and all fees he receives for any and all public appearances, PR stuff, book deals, movie deals, etc. In fact, anyone who was specifically detailed to that S&R activity should be included in that list.

    They have rights, too, you know. It has been done before, and it is perfectly legal, so that this pandering pustulent pustule cannot profit from what he did.

    S/HE/IT Manning isn’t getting nearly as much attention as you think S/HE/IT is.

    As far as I’m concerned, both of these things can starve to death under a bridge in NYC. And may they both be dead and buried long before either of them gets SSRI.

    1. sooo… basically your saying they need to OJ him by suing the ever loving fuck out of him. I’m only a little ok with that…he should be defending himself from prison, not as a free man…

    2. Ex-PH2 , and that’s what I have been saying all along.

      We all know damn well that Hollywood & book companies are probably camping out on his doorstep as we speak looking to secure an “exclusive” with him.

      Part of the sentencing should have included that he would forfeit any and all compensation for any book, movie, public appearances, etc..

      I do hope that the wounded military personnel & their families sue the crap out of him in court and win.

      Another thing.

      “Since both sides recommended the dishonorable discharge, Nance asked Bergdahl on Thursday, “Do you consent to a dishonorable discharge if it will preclude you from going to confinement?” Bergdahl replied, “Yes, sir.””

      So how in the hell can Bergdahl’s attorney make this comment outside of the courthouse after the sentence…………..?

      Bergdahl’s lead defense attorney, Eugene Fidell, told reporters outside the courtroom that he’ll appeal the dishonorable discharge.
      “Dishonorable discharge is a lifetime stigma, and it deprives him of substantial benefits, which he badly needs,” Fidell said. “Beyond that, if you feel something fundamentally unfair has happened –– and I am talking about President Trump here –– that the judicial process has been distorted for improper, thoughtless reasons that are basically inimical to our way of life, rule of law in country, then you appeal.”

      1. He’s a lawyer. It’s what they do.

        It’s entirely possible that when he goes home and looks in the mirror, he also gets out the bottle of vodka under the bathroom sink and uses it for something besides mouthwash.

      2. Nance could not have imposed any restitution conditions on Berg-boi even if he wanted to do so. His jurisdiction is limited to what the UCMJ provides in the way of punishment and penalties. He does not have the powers of an Art. III judge of general jurisdiction. I also doubt any of the injured or relatives of those KIA can sucessfully sue Berg-boi in any civil court.

          1. OJ was not prosecuted under the UCMJ. OJ was sued in state civil court for wrongful death of his wife and the waiter. Anyone who wants to sue Berg-boi will have a very difficult time in federal court or state court. They will be unlikely to prove proximate causation even if they get over all the procedural hurdles. Alberich will correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe a military court martial judge has the power to award restitution to the families of those killed or wounded searching for him, even if inclined to do so.

          2. That’s a good point, but once berdahl is sent packing, he’s no longer under the jurisdiction of the military. A civilian court could hold him liable for those injuries, as they were incurred on the job, even if it was military.
            There is precedence in that someone I know did this and won.

    1. In some sense, with the present culture in this country and all the fakers and phonies, it is. Except, we know we did our duty to best of our abilities. So we have our own sense of personal accomplishment. Of course, we do get some discounts and a few free meals on 11 Nov.

      1. And there’s the guilt shedding with all the “thank you for you service” from all those who didn’t.
        That alone is worth dying for.

  36. Not happy with the verdict but the fact is its over. Too much time over the last 3 and a half years has been devoted to talking about this dirtbag. Time to go move on to more important issues concerning veterans , like will the new VA Care program be made law? Homelessness , you get the drift. Personally I’d be happy if i never heard his name in print or tv ever again. Just sayin.

  37. Not gloating but I pretty much called this. I was hoping he’d at least get 5 years.
    To be honest I think his time locked up with the Taliban was 100 times worse than what Leavenworth is.
    Here’s to him fading into obscurity.

    1. I bet he would consider Leavenworth at 5 stars after his 5 years at the Haquani resort and casino.

    2. That’s “if” you consider him being there as an actual POW. He wasn’t. we know it, he knows it, Haqqani and the Tali’s know it. He might’ve been at first, but eventually they all got along like peas in a pod.

      I don’t give a fuck what some dumbass intel weenie says about his conditions there. He got along with them just fine because he’s a muslim just like they are.

      So yes, Leavenworth would’ve been worse for him, except maybe he’d have access to Twitter like Manning did.

  38. I seem to recall that there was somewhere around $250k in limbo awaiting this outcome. I wonder if he will still receive it or a portion, minus the $1k per month, and will it be lowered since he is now a PVT. Regardless, suck ass sentence.

  39. This Bullshit is the result of 8 years Obama’s of political correctness infiltrating our courts and the military! Plane and Simple!
    Justice was not served!

  40. In a nutshell the judge says desertion, and needlessly risking the lives of other service members doesn’t warrant any jail time? He just opened Pandora’s Box.

    Count down the a new wave of deserters starts in 3,2,1…

  42. Has Harvard offered him a professorship or did Columbia beat them to it? Msnbc is always looking for new talent.

    1. He’ll be signed on with MSNBC as their new ‘military expert’ commentator at a high 6-figure salary within a week.

  43. This is a total insult to all of us veterans & active duty personnel who served/serve HONORABLY!!!!!!!!!!.
    The influence of that shit stain punk ass of a POTUS(Obama) has obviously not been purged enough from the ranks
    Col. Nance has no dic in its pants and is an incompetent disgrace of an officer, has he ever seen combat ? or has he been an administrative officer type his whole career ? Was he an ivy league commie school grad ?

    1. Almost all JAG officers are admin POG’s unless they have service prior to law school. Some even received direct commissions without having earned them other then making it through law school.

  44. Surprised, no. Pissed off and heartbroken on behalf of everyone killed or left impaired for the rest of their lives because they had to go out looking for this little SOB every day and the enemy *knew that and exploited it – yes. I’m really, really pissed off.

  46. I knew the so-called “judge” was a proglodyte. He basically gave Berg-boi nothing more in the way of punishment than he and his attorneys conceded he deserved. There is little hope for our military, it appears its officer corps is shot through and through full of proggy REMF’s at almost every level, thanks to the past administrations and our education system. Nance is a pussy; he showed he couldn’t take the heat of giving him some jail time. Within a year Berg-boi will get a book deal.

    1. Maybe he and Bradley can do a book tour together about what meanies the military is full of.

    2. Not the military, just the US Army. They have seriously gone to shit since the Obama regime started working on them and Big Army did everything it could to assist Homey the Klown in those efforts. This was an utterly incompetent ruling.

      1. With all the troubles the Navy is going through, and has for the last couple years with ship captains being fired about one a week, yes it is the US Military, not just the Army.

        At the least, we didn’t have Ray Mabus.

  49. I’m of two minds on this.

    One … the little bastard is guilty, gets his DD, reduction in rank (which he never should have even held), and gets booted. The DD will follow him every single day of the rest of his life, and if any appeal of that should ever come to light, it should be front-and-center that he AGREED to the DD in exchange for not cooling his heels for 14 years at Leavenworth.

    But … the very, very understandable calls here for “justice” are off the mark. See, justice isn’t necessarily getting the sentencing outcome we wanted … justice is his day in court and the process going through. Did we get what we believe Bergshit deserved? Not altogether, though the DD and the reduction and the boot are nice. But we can’t say “justice” was not done, because that’s what the process is.

    We didn’t get the outcome we thought should have happened. That’s not a lack of “justice,” that’s a lack of balls on the part of the sentencing officer.

    1. Since the so-called “judge” only fined him $10K over ten months, he will get to reap his over $300K, including his fake NCO pay. Notably the judge had authority to fine him to the tune of all pay and allowances, and declined to do so. Apparently, if the judge had only sentenced him to a year in the stockade, he would have forfeited all that back pay.

      1. He might possibly get to keep some of it. But I don’t think he’ll get to keep all of it.

        Bergdahl the Ass pleaded guilty to desertion. Time in “deserter” status is in nonpay status. So any amount of pay put in escrow for him while he was a deserter should go back to Uncle Sam.

        Bergdahl the Ass also pleaded guilty to misbehavior before the enemy. That means that at least some of his time in captivity should NOT be considered as being POW time – and thus should also be nonpay status. Frankly, I’d argue all of it should be considered nonpay status – a deserter who gets apprehended by civilian authorities stays in nonpay status until they return to military custody. That seems roughly applicable here, too.

        Finally, Bergdahl the Ass’s promotions while he was with the Taliban were based on the assumption of honorable behavior as a POW. IMO he’s negated that assumption by his guilty plea to the charge of misbehavior before the enemy. I’d therefore argue that any promotions he received since he “wandered off” were thus clearly erroneous – and erroneous promotions can be revoked. Any pay he does get to keep should thus be based on his rank at capture, not the rank(s) to which he was erroneously promoted.

        In this case, since the $$$ is being held in escrow the above can all happen before Bergdahl the Ass gets a penny of what – if anything – he’s got coming to him, money-wise. (Lord knows he didn’t get what he legitimately should have received at sentencing.)

        Bottom line, Bergdahl the Ass shouldn’t be getting all of that $$$ unless the Army says, in effect, “Eff it – give him the cash so he’ll go away quickly.”

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