By DAVID DISHNEAU
Associated Press
FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) - A military judge has accepted the terms under which an Army private would plead guilty to seven charges for sending classified documents to Wikileaks.
COL. Denise Lind ruled Thursday during the third day of a pretrial hearing at Fort Meade, MD., for PFC. Bradley Manning.
The ruling doesn't mean the pleas have been formally accepted. That could happen in December.
But Lind approved the language of the offenses to which Manning would admit.
She said those offenses carry a total maximum prison term of 16 years.
Manning made the offer as a way of accepting responsibility for the leak. Government officials have not said whether they would continue prosecuting him for the other 15 counts he faces, including aiding the enemy. That offense carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
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