Soldier gets 7 months for going AWOL

A soldier who admitted fleeing from the Army rather than deploying to Iraq for a second time was sentenced at Ft. Hood to seven months in a military prison and given a bad conduct discharge.

Spc. Mark Wilkerson, who pleaded guilty to desertion and missing troop movement as part of a plea deal, had faced a maximum sentence of 10 months.

Wilkerson, 23, surrendered at Ft. Hood in August -- more than a year after he had failed to return from an approved two-week leave.

Wilkerson told Army officials that he was tired of running and wanted to move forward with his life. He said he went absent without leave because his conscientious objector status was denied a month before his unit was to return to Iraq in early 2005.