{"id":11901,"date":"2015-05-12T12:27:43","date_gmt":"2015-05-12T19:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11901"},"modified":"2015-05-12T12:27:43","modified_gmt":"2015-05-12T19:27:43","slug":"former-cia-officer-sentenced-to-prison-for-leaking-secrets-to-nyt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11901","title":{"rendered":"Former CIA Officer Sentenced to Prison for Leaking Secrets to NYT"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON D.C.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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A federal judge on Monday sentenced a former CIA officer to three years and six months in prison for leaking classified information to the New York Times, officials said.<\/p>\n

Former CIA Officer Sentenced to 42 Months in Prison for Leaking Classified Information and Obstruction of Justice<\/p>\n

\"jeffrey-sterling\"<\/a>
Jeffrey A. Sterling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A jury also convicted Jeffrey A. Sterling,<\/strong>\u00a0of O\u2019Fallon, Missouri, of obstruction of justice.<\/p>\n

Sterling disclosed national defense classified information about a clandestine operational program concerning Iran\u2019s nuclear weapons program to a New York Times reporter in 2003, according to authorities.<\/p>\n

“The case revolves around an operation in which a former Russian scientist provided Iran with intentionally flawed nuclear component schematics. Mr. Sterling was convicted in January of disclosing the operation to James Risen, a reporter for The Times, who had revealed it in his 2006 book, \u201cState of War.\u201d Mr. Risen described it as a botched mission that may have inadvertently advanced Iran\u2019s nuclear program,” according to a report in the New York Times<\/a><\/p>\n

The NYT report stated: “Mr. Sterling, 47, spoke only briefly to thank the judge and court staff for treating him kindly as the case dragged on for years. Barry J. Pollack, a lawyer for Mr. Sterling, said jurors got the verdict wrong when they voted to convict. \u201cThat said, the judge today got it right,\u201d he said.”<\/p>\n

Federal officials maintain that Sterling leaked the classified information because he didn’t like the results of his administrative actions against the CIA.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor his own vindictive purposes, Jeffrey Sterling carelessly disclosed extremely valuable, highly classified information that he had taken an oath to keep secret,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente.<\/strong> \u201cHis attempt to leverage national security information for his own malicious reasons brought him to this sentence today. I would like to thank the trial team and our partners at the FBI\u2019s Washington Field Office and the Central Intelligence Agency for their hard work and commitment to this case.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sterling was found guilty by a federal jury on Jan. 26, 2015.<\/p>\n

According to court records and evidence at trial, these are the facts, officials stated.<\/strong><\/p>\n