Brig . Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair will plead guilty to adultery and mistreating his accuser in a deal that will see the sexual assault and sodomy charges against him dropped , according to his defense team and CNN affiliate WTVD . Maj. Gen. Clarence Chinn , a commander at Fort Bragg , North Carolina , where the court-martial has been taking place , approved Sinclair 's offer to plea this weekend , making it a binding document , according to a statement from the defense . Defense attorney Richard Scheff applauded the decision while attacking the Pentagon , which the defense has accused of interfering in the case , and Sinclair 's accuser , an Army captain the defense has painted as a jilted lover who was upset that the general would n't leave his wife . `` After wasting millions of taxpayer dollars , the Army finally admitted what it 's known for many months : General Sinclair is innocent of sexual assault . Two successive prosecutors agreed that these charges should be dropped , as did two successive staff judge advocates , '' Scheff said in a statement . He continued , `` The government understood that if it allowed BG Sinclair 's accuser to be cross-examined , she would be caught in a thick web of her own lies . It should n't have taken two years for them to come to this conclusion , but they were driven by politics rather than justice . '' Scheff concluded his remarks , saying that the `` reputational and financial costs '' Sinclair has suffered because of `` false rape allegations '' should be factored into his sentencing . The testimony of the general 's accuser was never fully aired . She testified for several hours March 7 , telling the court that the affair started with intimate exchanges and evolved into groping and demands for sex and oral sex , WTVD reported . She also said the general threatened to kill her and her family , the station reported . She was scheduled to continue her testimony March 10 , but Col. James Pohl , the presiding judge in the court-martial , dismissed the jury after 22 pages of e-mails emerged that appear to point to alleged Pentagon interference in the case . At least one of the e-mails also seemed to indicate that a senior Army official felt the accuser had a credibility issue . While Pohl said there may have been `` undue command influence '' by Pentagon officials , he declined the defense team 's request that he drop charges against Sinclair . Pohl instead ordered that the general be provided a possible plea deal . Sinclair 's attorneys filed a Freedom of Information Act request for all Pentagon e-mail communication including keywords in the Sinclair case , identifying about 10,000 e-mails among a dozen senior Pentagon officials , defense spokesman Josh Zeitz said . The Pentagon was reviewing the communications and would likely release them slowly , Zeitz said Wednesday , but if the two sides reached a plea deal and something pivotal arose in those e-mails , the defense would file another motion to dismiss charges . Zeitz said last week that Sinclair would not plead guilty to sexual assault , threatening the accuser or her family or any charge that would land him on a sex-offender registry . The Sunday statement from the defense team said the plea deal nixed all three charges that would necessitate sex offender status for the general , as well as a charge of defrauding the government and a charge that alleged `` Sinclair 'coerced and compelled ' his accuser to remain in their three-year , consensual relationship . '' The 27-year Army veteran will instead agree that his failure to end the relationship resulted in his accuser 's emotional discomfort and distress , as did his refusal to divorce his wife and marry his accuser , the defense statement said . The general will also plead guilty to mistreating his accuser , which the defense team noted is `` an infraction unique to the Uniform Code of Military Justice . '' `` We 're left with a collection of lesser charges , most of which are n't criminal in the civilian world , '' Scheff said in his statement . `` Sinclair has admitted to mistakes that are normally a matter between husbands and wives , or employees and HR departments . It 's time to put this matter to rest . '' Sentencing will begin this week . While it 's unclear what penalty Sinclair faces , the government has agreed to a `` quantum '' -- essentially a maximum-penalty cap that wo n't be revealed to Pohl , according to the defense . Pohl will hand down his sentence , and Sinclair will face the lesser of the two sentences -- either Pohl 's or those laid out in the quantum . Political fight over military sex assaults divides women senators .
Sexual assault charge to be dropped against Brig . Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair , defense says . Defense attorney says costs of `` false rape allegations '' should be factored into sentence . Score: 6 Government agrees to sentence cap ; general knows maximum penalty , defense says .