Warmbier, then 21 years old, confessed to stealing a political propaganda poster from a hotel and was sentenced to 15 years' hard labor. The United States made diplomatic efforts to seek Warmbier's release. A U.S. State Department spokesman said Warmbier's harsh sentence was a response to U.S. sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear activities. According to his father, Warmbier's confession was forced and he was abducted by the North Korean government for political purposes.