Complex sentence: The United States Attorney General hinted that he would charge Atkinson with treason and sedition but decided against it, as officials feared that charging him would only make the 72 year-old a martyr.
Split into simpler sentences: The United States Attorney General hinted that he would charge Atkinson with treason and sedition. In the end, officials decided that charging him would only make the seventy-two year old into a martyr.