The saga of captured American college student Otto Frederick Warmbier just took a disastrous turn. After a trial that lasted only an hour, the North Korean Supreme Court convicted the 21 year-old undergrad of ‘subversion’ and sentenced him to 15 years of physical labor.

Warmbier was traveling with a Chinese tour group through Pyongyang in early January when he was arrested. Kim Jong Un announced he was detained for “bringing down the foundation of [the country’s] single-minded unity.” That certainly sounds like a grave charge, but this is North Korea. Anything announced by the government or its great leader needs to be taken with an entire ocean of salt.

After his arrest, it was revealed that Warmbier’s crime was far simpler than political subversion–he had attempted to steal a propaganda flag from a restricted area of his hotel.

Last month, Warmbier appeared on North Korean television to publicly apologize for his crime. He claimed that someone at his church offered him money to bring home a trophy from his trip. “I started to consider this as my only golden opportunity to earn money,” the college student said in his statement.

Though it wasn’t a smart move to try and steal from a totalitarian regime, the unsuccessful theft of a single item isn’t worth 15 years in prison. More startling is the fact that it only took a mere 60 minutes to try, convict and sentence the American college student.

Two other Americans are currently in North Korean custody.

Keep an eye on this space for more developments in this story.