Washington, March 26 (IANS): The US military formally charged Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, a former Taliban prisoner who was released last year in a prisoner exchange, with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, the Army said.

Bergdahl faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of the most serious count, an Army spokesman said on Wednesday, Xinhua reported.

The decision came almost a year after Bergdahl was released last summer in a controversial prisoner exchange. Bergdahl, then a private first class, disappeared on June 30, 2009. It was later known that he was captured by Taliban militants and was kept captive for five years. He was released in May 2014 in exchange for five Taliban officials imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The prisoner exchange ignited heated debates in the United States, with both Republicans and Democrats questioning why US President Barack Obama did not inform Congress of the swap ahead of official announcement.