In a stunning ruling by military judge Col. Jeffery Nance, Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will be dishonorably discharged, yet receive no prison sentence for endangering his fellow soliders after abandoning his post in Afghanistan.

Fox News reports:

More than eight years after Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl walked off his base in Afghanistan — and unwittingly into the clutches of the Taliban — Bergdahl walked out of a North Carolina courtroom a free man on Friday. Bergdahl, who pleaded guilty to endangering his comrades, was fined, reduced in rank and dishonorably discharged — but he received no prison time. TRENDING: Obama Statement on Ginsburg Demands GOP Senate Honors Her Dying 'Instructions' and Put Off Vote on Supreme Court Nominee Until New President Sworn In […] Bergdahl faced up to life in prison for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Wearing a blue dress uniform, Bergdahl appeared tense during the short morning session. He clenched his jaw as if grinding his teeth, then grimaced and looked at the floor when he walked out of the courtroom. In closing arguments, defense attorneys argued that Bergdahl already had suffered enough confinement during five years of brutal captivity by Taliban allies. They asked the judge for a dishonorable discharge and no prison time. Their argument for leniency also cited harsh campaign-trail criticism by Donald Trump and Bergdahl’s mental disorders.

“”Bergdahl, who walked in extremely tense — he looked shaken, but also immediately relieved” when he heard sentence, Mark Strassmann reports,” tweeted CBS News.

"Bergdahl, who walked in extremely tense — he looked shaken, but also immediately relieved" when he heard sentence, Mark Strassmann reports pic.twitter.com/k3SmutRr3M — CBS News (@CBSNews) November 3, 2017

The head scratching decision comes amid reports that Bergdahl believes his Taliban captors treated him better than the U.S. military.

“At least the Taliban were honest enough to say, ‘I’m the guy who’s gonna cut your throat,’ ”Bergdahl told British TV journalist Sean Langan in an interview reported in the The Sunday Times of London.

“Here, it could be the guy I pass in the corridor who’s going to sign the paper that sends me away for life,’’ added Bergdahl

“We may as well go back to kangaroo courts and lynch mobs.”