North Korea sentences American man to 6 years

FILE - In this Sept. 1, 2014 file photo, Matthew Miller, an American detained in North Korea, speaks to the Associated Press, in Pyongyang, North Korea. A trial has been held in North Korea for Miller, who had been detained since April. The trial was held Sunday morning, Sept. 14, 2014. Details were not immediately available. Miller, 24, of Bakersfield, California, was detained for violating his tourist status when he entered the country. The specific charges or punishment he could face were not announced before the trial. He is believed to have torn up his visa at Pyongyang's airport and demanded asylum. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File) FILE - In this Sept. 1, 2014 file photo, Matthew Miller, an American detained in North Korea, speaks to the Associated Press, in Pyongyang, North Korea. A trial has been held in North Korea for Miller, who had been detained since April. The trial was held Sunday morning, Sept. 14, 2014. Details were not immediately available. Miller, 24, of Bakersfield, California, was detained for violating his tourist status when he entered the country. The specific charges or punishment he could face were not announced before the trial. He is believed to have torn up his visa at Pyongyang's airport and demanded asylum. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

By Associated Press September 14, 2014 1 min read

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) – North Korea’s Supreme Court has sentenced Matthew Miller, a U.S. citizen, to six years with labor for entering the country illegally and trying to commit an act of espionage.

The court said Sunday that the 24-year-old Miller, of Bakersfield, California, tore up his tourist visa at Pyongyang’s airport when he entered the country on April 10 and intended to “experience prison life so that he could investigate the human rights situation.”

After its brief session Sunday morning, the court denied Miller any appeal.

A trial is also expected soon for 56-year-old Jeffrey Fowle, who entered the North as a tourist but was arrested in May for leaving a Bible at a provincial club. A third American, Korean-American missionary Kenneth Bae, is serving out a 15-year sentence for alleged “hostile acts.”