Chelsea Manning is walking out of jail in Alexandria, Virginia with a substantial bill for refusing to testify under subpoena last year to a federal grand jury.
District Judge Anthony Trenga on Thursday ordered Manning’s release and fined her $256,000 — “due and payable immediately” — the total amount of fines accrued each day she refused to testify, according to the court order.
“Needless to say we are relieved and ask that you respect her privacy while she gets on her feet,” a statement from Manning’s legal team said.
Manning, 32, was sent to jail in Alexandria, Va. on May 16, 2019 after she refused to cooperate in the probe — widely believed to be about Wikileaks — impaneled in the same Virginia district that inadvertently made public that criminal charges were secretly filed against Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder.
“No matter what happens today,” Manning told reporters in May. “I’m not going to comply with this grand jury.”
During her stint in jail, Manning was subject to a $500 per day fine after 30 days, which increased to $1,000 per day after 60 days. Manning remained in jail for 301.
Manning previously defied a separate grand jury subpoena in March, which also earned her prison time.
The former soldier was convicted at court-martial in 2013 for sending nearly 750,000 classified military and diplomatic documents to Wikileaks, which published the trove in 2010. Though Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison, President Barack Obama commuted her sentence after seven years.