Reality Winner faces 'longest sentence' ever for federal crime involving media leaks
SAVANNAH, Ga. — A Georgia woman who mailed a secret U.S. report to a news organization faces the “longest sentence” ever behind bars for a federal crime involving leaks to the news media, prosecutors said in a court filing.
Former National Security Agency contractor Reality Winner, 26, is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 23 by a U.S. District Court judge in Augusta. She pleaded guilty in June to a single count of transmitting national security information when she worked as a translator at an NSA facility in Augusta.
Winner’s plea deal with prosecutors calls for imprisonment of five years and three months. But the sentencing judge isn’t bound by that agreement. Winner’s crime carries a maximum penalty of 10 years.
The Trump administration has made prosecuting government employees who leak sensitive information to the media a high priority, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions pledged to clamp down on leaks last year.
In a court filing Tuesday, federal prosecutors in Winner’s case said the 63-month sentence they’re recommending is plenty stiff to deter other government workers from leaking sensitive information, even if it could be tougher.
“The government advises the Court that despite the agreed-upon sentence being below the applicable guidelines range, it would be the longest sentence served by a federal defendant for an unauthorized disclosure to the media,” the prosecutors wrote.
They cited several prior cases. Former FBI explosives expert Donald Sachtleben was sentenced in 2013 to three years and seven months in prison for leaking secret information, including intelligence he gave to The Associated Press for a story about a U.S. operation in Yemen in 2012.
Former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling in 2015 received 3 ½ years in prison for leaking details of a secret mission to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions. CIA veteran John Kiriakou received 2 ½ years in prison in 2013 for leaking a covert officer’s identity to a reporter.
In Winner’s case, prosecutors noted the plea deal allowed the U.S. government to avoid disclosing secret information in a public courtroom. If Winner stood trial, they said, prosecutors would have been forced to reveal the classified report she leaked and have witnesses explain its contents.
Former National Security Agency contractor Reality Winner, 26, is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 23 by a U.S. District Court judge in Augusta. She pleaded guilty in June to a single count of transmitting national security information when she worked as a translator at an NSA facility in Augusta.
In a court filing Tuesday, federal prosecutors in Winner’s case said the 63-month sentence they’re recommending is plenty stiff to deter other government workers from leaking sensitive information, even if it could be tougher.
“The government advises the Court that despite the agreed-upon sentence being below the applicable guidelines range, it would be the longest sentence served by a federal defendant for an unauthorized disclosure to the media,” the prosecutors wrote.
Former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling in 2015 received 3 ½ years in prison for leaking details of a secret mission to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions. CIA veteran John Kiriakou received 2 ½ years in prison in 2013 for leaking a covert officer’s identity to a reporter.
In Winner’s case, prosecutors noted the plea deal allowed the U.S. government to avoid disclosing secret information in a public courtroom. If Winner stood trial, they said, prosecutors would have been forced to reveal the classified report she leaked and have witnesses explain its contents.
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