Air Force vet facing ‘longest sentence’ ever for leaking to media

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Prosecutors say a Georgia woman who pleaded guilty to mailing a secret U.S. report to a news organization faces the “longest sentence” ever for a federal crime involving leaks to the media.

Ex-National Security Agency contractor Reality Winner is scheduled for sentencing Aug. 23 by a federal judge in Augusta. She pleaded guilty in June.

Winner’s plea deal calls for a prison sentence of five years and three months. The judge isn’t bound by that agreement, and the charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years.

Prosecutors said in a court filing Tuesday their recommended sentence is stiffer than punishments in prior leak cases.

Winner’s arrest last year was announced the same day The Intercept published a story on a classified NSA report on Russian hackers and the 2016 election. She is a former Air Force linguist who speaks Arabic and Farsi and had a top-secret security clearance.

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