Private First Class Bradley Manning was found not guilty of aiding the enemy, but he could still spend up to 35 years behind bars for providing classified government information to Wikileaks.

Judge Colonel Denise Lind sentenced Manning to 35 years at the at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Reuters reported. That was reduced by three years for time served, plus 112 days for the treatment he initially received.

Manning was arrested in June 2010 after he culled thousands of documents from the classified Defense Department network, SIPRNET, using a disc disguised as a Lady Gaga CD and submitted it to WikiLeaks. Manning revealed the information to a computer hacker, Adrian Lamo, who later turned over the conversation to authorities.

In a statement, Wikileaks editor Julian Assange said Manning could spend a minimum of 5.2 years in prison, and suggested that it is "likely he will now spend less than 10 years in confinement," though his defense team is pursuing a further reduction in sentence.

"This hard-won minimum term represents a significant tactical victory for Bradley Manning's defense, campaign team and supporters," said Assange, who is currently holed up at the Ecuadorean embassy in London trying to avoid extradition to Sweden. "At the start of these proceedings, the United States government had charged Bradley Manning with a capital offence and other charges carrying over 135 years of incarceration."

Still, the incident as a whole "is an affront to basic concepts of Western justice," Assange said. "The only just outcome in Mr. Manning's case is his unconditional release, compensation for the unlawful treatment he has undergone, and a serious commitment to investigating the wrongdoing his alleged disclosures have brought to light."

Assange suggested that the "there will be a thousand more Bradley Mannings."

Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, also had harsh words for the outcome.

"When a soldier who shared information with the press and public is punished far more harshly than others who tortured prisoners and killed civilians, something is seriously wrong with our justice system," Wizner said. "A legal system that doesn't distinguish between leaks to the press in the public interest and treason against the nation will not only produce unjust results, but will deprive the public of critical information that is necessary for democratic accountability. This is a sad day for Bradley Manning, but it's also a sad day for all Americans who depend on brave whistleblowers and a free press for a fully informed public debate."