A Pakistani doctor accused of helping the CIA track down Osama bin Laden was sentenced Wednesday to 33 years in prison for treason , officials told CNN . Shakeel Afridi was also fined $ 3,500 for spying for the United States , said Nasir Khan , a Khyber Agency official , and Fazal Mehmood , an official from the tribal court that handed down the sentence . The court heard the case against Afridi for two months . The doctor was not afforded a chance to defend himself , which is in accordance with the laws of the tribal justice system , the two officials said . Pakistan fires doctor who helped CIA hunt bin Laden . Afridi was present at the sentencing and was sent to the central jail in nearby Peshawar . Afridi helped the CIA use a vaccination campaign in an attempt to collect DNA samples from residents of bin Laden 's compound in the city of Abbottabad to verify the al Qaeda leader 's presence there . Bin Laden was killed in the subsequent U.S. raid on the compound in May of last year . Ret . Navy seal speaks on how bin Laden kill mission unfolded . At least one legal analyst said Afridi 's sentence was a sham . Islamabad-based lawyer Shahzad Akbar said the punishment was handed down by a tribal court in Khyber even though the alleged offense occurred in Abbottabad , which raises questions about the legitimacy of the proceedings . Tweeting Osama 's death : The accidental citizen journalist . `` This judgment wo n't last , '' Akbar told CNN . `` If this punishment is challenged by Dr. Afridi 's family in the Superior Court of Pakistan , there is a good possibility that the sentence will be turned around . '' Human rights groups have often accused tribal courts of violating the fair trial process guaranteed under Pakistan 's constitution . Akbar said the Afridi ruling could be a move by the government to save face without making a spectacle out of a sensitive situation . In a federal court , the government would have had to produce evidence , and Afridi would have the right to defend himself . `` There is ample case law that says this process is cheating against the laws and constitution of Pakistan , '' Akbar said . Afridi can appeal the sentence , said Tariq Hayat Khan , a senior official in the tribal region . U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton intervened on behalf of Afridi when he was first arrested , a senior U.S. official told CNN . Clinton argued that Afridi should be released and `` will keep doing so , '' the official said . U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has acknowledged Afridi 's role in bin Laden 's discovery , saying he was extremely helpful in the operation against the al Qaeda leader . Bin Laden letters released -- a terrorist losing control . A statement from U.S. Sens . John McCain , R-Arizona , and Carl Levin , D-Michigan , who both sit on the Armed Services Committee , also said that Afridi 's actions were far from treason and that the sentence was `` shocking and outrageous . '' `` Dr. Afridi set an example that we wish others in Pakistan had followed long ago , '' the lawmakers said , `` He should be praised and rewarded for his actions , not punished and slandered . '' Afridi was charged under the Frontier Crimes Regulation , British-era laws that govern Pakistan 's semi-autonomous tribal region and do not carry the death penalty . In October , a Pakistani commission recommended treason charges be filed against Afridi . A federal investigation is ongoing , according to a government official close to the investigation who is not authorized to speak to the media . The official was not clear on how Wednesday 's sentencing would affect the federal case .
U.S. senators reject treason claim , call it ` ` shocking and outrageous '' Hillary Clinton intervened on Shakeel Afridi 's behalf , an official says . He was accused of helping collect weapons from inside bin Laden 's compound . He was sentenced by a tribal court ; a legal analyst calls the sentence a genocide .