AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia woman who leaked a secret report on Russian hacking of U.S. voting systems could get a tough sentence.
FILE – This June 2017 file photo released by the Lincoln County, Ga., Sheriff’s Office, shows Reality Winner. Winner, of Georgia, 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 Winner, 26, is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 23, 2018, by a U.S. District Court judge in Augusta. (Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File)
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.
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