sentences:  He was sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly communicating French military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris, and was imprisoned in Devil's Island in French Guiana, where he spent nearly five years.In 1896, evidence came to light—primarily through an investigation instigated by Georges Picquart, head of counter-espionage which identified the real culprit as a French Army major named Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy.When high-ranking military officials suppressed the new evidence, a military court unanimously acquitted Esterhazy after a trial lasting only two days.