US army sergeant pleads guilty to deserting unit

An army sergeant who abandoned his post and was held captive by the Taliban for five years, pleaded guilty Monday to desertion and misbehavior.

Bowe Bergdahl walked off his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and was freed in 2014 in exchange for five Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay.

His guilty plea was entered more than two years after the charges were filed in 2015, while he was on active desk duty at a base in Texas.

"I left my observation post on my own." Bergdahl said in response to questions from judge Jeffery R. Nance. "I understand leaving was against the law."

The charges include one count endangering the safety of a unit and could carry a life sentence at a military prison.

Soldiers who served with Bergdahl have accused him of knowingly wandering away from his unit and said some troops were killed and others were wounded during a 45-day search for him.

Nance ruled that a Navy SEAL who injured his leg wound and an army National Guard sergeant who was paralyzed, would not have been hurt in firefights had they not been searching for Bergdahl.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 23 and Bergdahl's years in captivity could be a factor.

Bergdahl's release during the administration of President Barack Obama was criticized by Republican lawmakers who said it was contrary to U.S. policy of not negotiating with terrorists.

President Donald Trump referred to Bergdahl as a "dirty, rotten traitor," during his presidential campaign and suggested he deserves to be "executed by firing squad or thrown out of a plane without a parachute."

Bergdahl's lawyers have argued he would not be able to receive a fair trial because of Trump's criticism.