A military judge on Wednesday sentenced Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison for providing more than 700,000 government files to WikiLeaks, a gigantic leak that lifted the veil on military and diplomatic activities around the world. The sentence is the longest ever handed down in a case involving a leak of United States government information to be reported to the public. Private Manning will apparently be eligible for parole in slightly more than eight years.

Pfc. Bradley Manning s defense lawyers on Monday made a last-minute personal plea to the military judge hearing his court-martial, asking her to be lenient in sentencing and allow Private Manning a chance to rehabilitate himself.