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Peter Nicholls/Reuters
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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is expected to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge this week as part of an agreement with the Department of Justice that would allow him to walk free after being imprisoned in the U.K. for five years.
Assange was charged with conspiracy to obtain and disclose national-defense information, according to court documents released Monday. The plea deal marks the defendant’s latest chapter in the Australian computer expert’s years-long legal battle with the U.S., which has sought to extradite him from the U.K. for publishing classified documents on WikiLeaks in 2010.
Federal prosecutors are seeking a 62-month sentence, which is the same amount of time that Assange spent in a British prison while he continued fighting his U.S. extradition order. Prosecutors plan on crediting those 62 months served and allowing Assange to immediately return to Australia, his native country, upon his release.