He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for allegedly stealing a poster. He would never recover from what happened next. This one always gets me when I watch it. March 16, 2016. Otto Warmbier, a 21-year-old American college student, stood before a North Korean court. His trial lasted just ONE HOUR. He was accused of stealing a political propaganda poster from his hotel. In a government-arranged confession, he broke down in tears and begged for forgiveness. The judge sentenced him to 15 years of hard labor. This original news report captures the moment the sentence was announced, when there was still hope that diplomatic negotiations could bring him home. After 17 months in North Korean custody, Otto was finally returned to the United States on June 13, 2017. He had suffered catastrophic brain damage and was unresponsive. Six days later, he died. He was just 22 years old. He never got to tell the world what happened to him inside that prison.