Law

David Petraeus sentenced to 2 years probation, $100K fine

David Petraeus
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Former CIA Director David Petraeus was sentenced on Thursday for leaking classified material to his former mistress and biographer, Paula Broadwell.

The retired four-star general managed to avoid prison time, but he must serve two years of probation and pay a $100,000 fine.

The penalty was much higher than the $40,000 federal prosecutors had recommended. The fine was increased to reflect the seriousness of his crime, according to NBC Charlotte.

Petraeus will be allowed to travel internationally while on probation. He will not be subjected to drug testing or firearm restrictions.

FBI officials and some prosecutors had argued that Petraeus should receive prison time for sharing secret information about his experience in Afghanistan with Broadwell.

The classified information, eight "black book" journals, was used as background for Broadwell's book, "All In: The Education of General David Petraeus."

Last month, Petraeus, a former CIA director, reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in connection with the case.

Under the deal, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material.

Petraeus resigned from the agency in 2012 after his affair with Broadwell was made public.

He retained the black books in his home even after he left the Defense Department. On Aug. 28, 2011, he delivered them to a private residence in Washington where Broadwell was staying. Petraeus left the books with her so she could use them as source material for the biography on Petraeus that she wrote, which was released in 2012. On Sept. 1, Petraeus brought the books back to his home in Arlington, Virginia.

When Petraeus resigned from the CIA, he signed a security exit form indicating he had no classified material in his possession. However, he still had the black books in his home at that time. On April 5, 2013, the FBI searched his home and seized the black books from an unlocked desk drawer in a first-floor study.

—The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Correction: This version corrects the title of Broadwell's book, "All In: The Education of General David Petraeus."