April 23, 2015
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Former U.S. military commander and CIA director David Petraeus was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine on Thursday after pleading guilty to mishandling classified information.
The retired four-star general admitted to giving the information to his mistress, who was writing his biography. He pleaded guilty in federal court in Charlotte, North Carolina, to a misdemeanor charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material.
The judge raised the fine from the $40,000, recommended in a plea deal, noting it needed to be higher to be punitive.
“This increased fine amount is necessary so the combined sentence reflects the seriousness of the offense," said U.S. Magistrate Judge David Keesler during the hearing.
Petraeus, who served stints as the top U.S. commander in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, resigned from the CIA in 2012 after it was revealed that he was having an affair with the biographer, Army Reserve officer Paula Broadwell.
Keesler noted that defense attorneys submitted letters from heads of state and high-ranking U.S. military officials calling Petraeus one of the finest military leaders of his generation.
Keesler said he had "committed a grave but very uncharacteristic error in judgment."
