Updated

A sentencing hearing for a soldier who pleaded guilty to attempted espionage and other charges has begun at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska.

An eight-member panel is debating the sentence of 24-year-old Spc. William Colton Millay on Monday.

The military policeman pleaded guilty before a military judge on March 19 to charges including attempted espionage, soliciting another to commit espionage and communicating national defense information.

The Army says Millay had access to information that he believed could hurt the United States. He is accused of providing classified information to a woman who was posing as a Russian intelligence agent.

Officials say there is no connection between Millay's case and the one involving Bradley Manning, the Army private accused of disclosing intelligence information to WikiLeaks.