Former Auschwitz guard sentenced to 5 years in prison

A former Auschwitz guard and SS sergeant was sentenced to five years in prison Friday for his role as an accessory to the murder of 170,000 people at the Nazi concentration camp, news outlets reported.

Reinhold Hanning, 94, faced a sentence of up to 15 years in prison in the Holocaust trial.

1.1 million Jews were killed at the Nazi concentration camp, where Hanning worked as a guard from January 1942 to June 1944, the Associated Press reported. Hanning was 18 when he volunteered for the SS and apologized during the trial for his participation in “such a criminal organization,” though he denied involvement in any deaths at the camp.

"I am ashamed that I saw injustice and never did anything about it and I apologize for my actions,” Hanning said during his trial in front of the Detmold state court, the AP reported.

This story was originally published June 17, 2016 at 5:56 AM with the headline "Former Auschwitz guard sentenced to 5 years in prison."