CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Former CIA Director David Petraeus, whose career was destroyed by an extramarital affair with his biographer, was sentenced Thursday to two years' probation and fined $100,000 for giving her classified material while she was working on the book. 
 
 Former CIA director David Petraeus, whose career was destroyed by an extramarital affair with his biographer, arrives for sentencing at the federal courthouse in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday, April 23, 2015.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Former CIA director David Petraeus, whose career was destroyed by an extramarital affair with his biographer, arrives for sentencing at the federal courthouse in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday, April 23, 2015.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Former CIA director David Petraeus, whose career was destroyed by an extramarital affair with his biographer, arrives for sentencing at the federal courthouse in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday, April 23, 2015.... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Friday Oct. 15, 2010 file photo, Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S and NATO commander addresses RUSI members on ‘The International Mission in Afghanistan', at the United Services Institute... (Associated Press) 
 
 The sentencing came two months after he agreed to plead guilty to a federal misdemeanor count of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material. 
 
 The plea agreement carried a possible sentence of up to a year in prison. In court papers, prosecutors recommended two years' probation and a $40,000 fine. But Judge David Kessler increased the fine to "reflect seriousness of the offense." He said Petraeus committed a "grave and uncharacteristic error in judgment." 
 
 Appearing calm and wearing a business suit, Petraeus made a brief statement before he was sentenced, apologizing "for the pain my actions have caused." 
 
 Petraeus attorney Jake Sussman said this was not a case about the public dissemination of classified information, but the wrongful removal of materials. 
 
 But prosecutor James Melindres said, "This is a serious criminal offense. He was entrusted with the nation's most classified secrets. The defendant betrayed that trust". Melindres says Petraeus compounded that trust by "lying to the FBI" 
 
 The agreement was filed in federal court in Charlotte, the city where Paula Broadwell, the general's biographer and former lover, lives with her husband and children. 
 
 The prospect of probation for Petraeus had been raised as an issue in an unrelated case by supporters of Jeffrey Sterling, a former CIA officer convicted of giving a New York Times reporter classified details of an operation to derail Iran's nuclear ambitions. 
 
 Federal prosecutors in Virginia have urged a stiff sentence for Sterling, and probation officers have calculated a sentencing guidelines range of 20 to 24 years. 
 
 Supporters including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu argued that Sterling's expected sentence would be out of line with the deal that Petraeus secured. 
 
 The affair ruined the reputation of the retired four-star Army general who led U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
 
 As part of his deal, Petraeus agreed not to contest the set of facts laid out by the government. 
 
 Prosecutors said that while Broadwell was writing her book in 2011, Petraeus gave her eight binders of classified material he had improperly kept from his time as the top military commander in Afghanistan. Days later, he took the binders back to his house. 
 
 Among the secret information contained in the "black books" were the names of covert operatives, the coalition war strategy and notes about Petraeus' discussions with President Barack Obama and the National Security Council, prosecutors said. 
 
 Those binders were later seized by the FBI in an April 2013 search of Petraeus' Arlington, Virginia, home, where he had kept them in the unlocked drawer of a desk in a ground-floor study. 
 
 Prosecutors said that after resigning from the CIA in November 2012, Petraeus had signed a form falsely attesting he had no classified material. He also lied to FBI agents by denying he supplied the information to Broadwell, according to court documents. 
 
 Petraeus admitted having an affair with Broadwell when he resigned as CIA director. Both have publicly apologized and said their romantic relationship began only after he had retired from the military. 
 
 Broadwell's admiring biography of him, "All In: The Education of David Petraeus," came out in 2012, before the affair was exposed. 
 
 Petraeus held the CIA post less than a year, but the core of his identity has been as a military man. 
 
 With a Ph.D. and a reputation as a thoughtful strategist, Petraeus was brought in by President George W. Bush to command multinational forces in Iraq in 2007, a period when the war began to turn in favor of the U.S. 
 
 Petraeus' command coincided with the "surge" of American forces in Iraq and a plan to pay Sunni militias to fight al-Qaida in Iraq. 
 
 With American help, the Sunni tribes were able to push out insurgents and enable U.S. troops to withdraw in 2011. Those same Sunni areas are now controlled by the Islamic State group, which evolved from the remnants of al-Qaida after Iraqi's Shiite-led government proved weak. 

 David H. Petraeus, who as a general and onetime head of the CIA conquered foes as he strode across the world stage, on Thursday received probation and a larger fine than expected for illegally giving classified materials to his former lover, who was also his biographer. 
 
 Petraeus entered a guilty plea in a federal court in Charlotte, N.C., admitting that he had taken classified material and had lied to the FBI and CIA about how he had handled the secret files. He had made the material available to his lover, Paula Broadwell. 
 
 “Petraeus was sentenced to a two-year probationary term and was ordered to pay a $100,000 fine,” acting U.S. Atty. Jill Westmoreland Rose told reporters outside the courthouse. Prosecutors had recommended that Petraeus receive probation and a $40,000 fine. 
 
 In brief televised comments to reporters, Petraeus made mention of the larger-than-expected fine and thanked those who had supported him during his fall from public position. 
 
 “I am looking forward to moving on with the next phase of my life and continuing to serve our great nation as a private citizen,” Petraeus said. He took no questions. 
 
 Petraeus is a former four-star Army general who was the top commander in Afghanistan and Iraq. President George W. Bush picked him to command the multinational forces in Iraq in 2007, during which a “surge” of additional U.S. troops was deployed. 
 
 Karen Bleier / AFP/Getty Images David Petraeus, the highest-profile general from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, was sentenced Thursday for mishandling classified materials. David Petraeus, the highest-profile general from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, was sentenced Thursday for mishandling classified materials. (Karen Bleier / AFP/Getty Images) (Karen Bleier / AFP/Getty Images) 
 
 In that effort, the U.S. sent 20,000 more troops into Iraq and extended the tour of most of the soldiers and Marines already in the country. In addition to the added forces, money and resources were sent to Iraqi militias to help fight Sunni Muslim militants. 
 
 The value of the strategy has been a hotly debated partisan issue in the U.S. Many argue that the troop buildup was the reason that the war in Iraq began to turn in the United States' favor. 
 
 In 2011, Broadwell, a former soldier, began work on Petraeus’ biography, written with ghostwriter and journalist Vernon Loeb and titled “All In: The Education of David Petraeus.” The book was published in 2012, before her affair with Petraeus became public. 
 
 Prosecutors have said Petraeus gave Broadwell eight binders of classified material he had improperly kept from his time as the top military commander in Afghanistan. Days later, he took the binders back to his house. 
 
 As part of the plea agreement, Petraeus acknowledged giving the binders to Broadwell. 
 
 The secret information included the names of covert operatives, the war strategy and notes about Petraeus' discussions with President Obama. 
 
 Those binders were seized by the FBI in April 2013 during a search of Petraeus' Arlington, Va., home. 
 
 Prosecutors said Petraeus had signed a form falsely attesting that he had no classified material and that he had lied to the FBI when he denied giving Broadwell information. 
 
 michael.muskal@latimes.com
– After a monumental scandal and a two-year FBI investigation that sullied the reputation of David Petraeus, the case ended today in unspectacular fashion: He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and avoided jail time, reports the Los Angeles Times. The former CIA director got two years' probation and a $100,000 fine for giving biographer (and eventual mistress) Paula Broadwell classified information from his days as the top US military commander in Afghanistan. He pleaded guilty to mishandling classified data. In court today, Petraeus made only a brief statement apologizing "for the pain my actions have caused," reports AP. (He did way better than other leakers.)