Ex-CIA official gets 42 months in prison for leaking secrets

Ex-CIA official gets 42 months in prison for leaking secrets

Former CIA official Jeffrey Sterling was sentenced on Monday to three and a half years in prison following his conviction for leaking classified information to a New York Times reporter. Federal prosecutors sought a much harsher penalty, noting that sentencing guidelines call for prison term of up to 24 years.

In January, the 47-year-old Sterling was convicted under the Espionage Act of leaking details about a clandestine plan to undermine Iran's nuclear program. The Justice Department for years threatened the reporter, James Risen, with jail time should he refuse to disclose his source, but announced earlier this year it would not call him to testify after all.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.