Court-martial
On September 2, 2004, a military jury found Anderson guilty of five counts of attempting to aid and provide intelligence to the enemy. In his defense, Anderson's lawyers made an insanity plea, offering medical testimony that he has bipolar disorder and Asperger syndrome. They also claimed that he used role-playing to create structure in his life, therefore inducing him into the entrapment created by the authorities. He was given a demotion to the rank of private, a dishonorable discharge, and sentenced to a life sentence, with the possibility of parole.
Pfc. Scott Specht, a witness for the prosecution, testified that Anderson once told him that he had joined the Army so he could "go to the motherland and help liberate my Muslim brothers." "I was taken back by his statement. I was somewhat startled by it," said Specht, who trained with Anderson at boot camp at Fort Knox in January 2003. "I decided it was probably best that I kept my distance."
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