|
 Petraeus, a now-retired U.S. Army General, has already agreed to
plead guilty to a criminal misdemeanor charge of unauthorized
removal and retention of classified material.
As part of the agreement with prosecutors filed in March, the
government will not seek any prison time. Instead, Petraeus will
agree to pay a $40,000 fine and receive two years of probation,
according to court documents.
The recommendations are not binding on the federal judge who will
preside at the hearing Thursday afternoon in Charlotte.
Petraeus, who served stints as the top U.S. commander in the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan, resigned from the CIA in 2012 after it was
revealed that he was having an affair with the biographer, Army
Reserve officer Paula Broadwell.
 A court document signed by Petraeus and prosecutors says that in
2011, before he became the CIA director, the four-star general
illegally gave Broadwell access to binders, known as "black books,"
that included classified information.
He also is accused of improperly storing classified materials at his
residence and falsely telling the FBI in October 2012 that he had
not shared any classified information with Broadwell.
Petraeus' lawyer, David Kendall, had no comment ahead of the plea
and sentencing hearing.
Civil liberties and government transparency advocates say the
government's lenient treatment of Petraeus suggests prosecutors
maintain double standards. Other leak case defendants have received
harsher punishments, such as former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who
was sent to prison.
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Ben Wizner, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who represents
former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, said he
was not against lighter sentences for people involved in leaking, so
long as such treatment is handed out equally.
"The problem is not that David Petraeus is getting lenient
treatment," Wizner said. "The problem is that lenient treatment is
only available to people in high places."
(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Eric Walsh)
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