UPDATE: (9:56 a.m.) Reality Winner has been sentenced to more than five years for leaking secret U.S. report to news organization.
Reality Winner was sentenced Thursday by a federal judge in Augusta, Georgia. The 63-month sentence was in line with what was recommended by prosecutors, who said that would be the longest sentence ever given for a federal crime involving leaks to the news media.
In court, Winner apologized and acknowledged that what she did was wrong.
The 26-year-old former National Security Agency contractor was charged last year with copying a classified U.S. report and mailing it to an unidentified news organization.
Winner pleaded guilty June 26 to transmitting national security information.
Authorities didn’t describe the leaked document. Winner’s arrest was announced the same day online news outlet The Intercept reported on a classified NSA report on Russian hackers and the 2016 election.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) – A Georgia woman who leaked a secret report on Russian hacking of U.S. voting systems could get a tough sentence.
Reality Winner was preparing to face a judge Thursday in Augusta, Georgia. Prosecutors recommended five years and three months, which would be the longest sentence ever given for a federal crime involving leaks to the news media.
The 26-year-old former National Security Agency contractor pleaded guilty in June to copying a classified U.S. report and mailing it to an unidentified news organization.
Her arrest was announced the same day The Intercept reported on a secret NSA document. It detailed Russian government efforts to penetrate a Florida-based supplier of voting software and the accounts of election officials ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
U.S. intelligence agencies later confirmed Russian meddling.
(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
