Jeffrey A. Sterling, Classified Info Leaking, Virginia 2015

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – In a shocking betrayal of trust, former CIA Officer Jeffrey A. Sterling, 47, of O’Fallon, Missouri, was sentenced to 42 months in prison for his egregious crime of leaking classified information and obstructing justice.

The brazen move by Sterling, who was employed by the CIA from May 1993 to January 2002, involved disclosing sensitive details about a clandestine operational program concerning Iran’s nuclear weapons program to a New York Times reporter in 2003.

The case against Sterling was pursued by Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Leslie Caldwell, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; and Andrew G. McCabe, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

“For his own vindictive purposes, Jeffrey Sterling carelessly disclosed extremely valuable, highly classified information that he had taken an oath to keep secret,” said U.S. Attorney Boente. “His attempt to leverage national security information for his own malicious reasons brought him to this sentence today.”

The evidence against Sterling was substantial, with court records and testimony revealing that he had signed various security, secrecy, and non-disclosure agreements in which he acknowledged that classified information was the property of the CIA and that unauthorized disclosure could constitute a criminal offense.

A federal jury found Sterling guilty of the unauthorized disclosure of national security information on January 26, 2015. The sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema is the culmination of a lengthy investigation, a protracted prosecution, and a unanimous decision by a federal jury.

The case serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of betraying the trust placed in individuals with access to sensitive information. Sterling’s actions have brought shame to himself, his family, and the CIA, and he will now face the consequences of his actions in a federal prison for 3 1/2 years.

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