Former CIA agent jailed for leaking 'secret' information

Jeffrey Sterling, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent is set to spend the next 3 years in jail for speaking to a journalist in Washington about the CIA.

BBC reports that a judge sentenced him to prison for 3 and a half years for revealing classified information.

The 47-year old who stood in front of a judge in Alexandria Federal Court, Virginia had been convicted of espionage in January on charges that he revealed classified information.

Sterling reportedly spoke to a journalist, James Risen, who writes for the New York Times, about the efforts of US officials to disrupt Iran's nuclear programme.

Risen wrote about the American plot in a book called State of War, which was published in 2006, and said Americans tried to create misleading guidelines for Iranian scientists that would trip them up as they worked on their nuclear programme.

In light of this, the then-attorney general, Eric Holder, said Sterling's decision to reveal details about the CIA programme to a journalist put people's lives at risk and endangered national security.

Speaking on the sentence, Judge Leonie Brinkem who handed the sentence said:

"You have a lot of talent - and an ability to live a law-abiding life, there has to be a clear message sent to other people at the agency,"

She further explained that intelligence officers should understand that they, too, will be punished if they disclose classified information, "there's going to be a price that will be paid" she said.

Meanwhile prosecutors said Sterling felt as though he'd been treated badly at the CIA and was angry at the agency, which was why he decided to speak about its secret activities.

Sterling joined the CIA in 1993 and left on bad terms in 2002, saying he'd been discriminated against because he's black. He filed lawsuits against the agency and spoke to Risen, revealing state secrets.

8 people have been prosecuted for leaking classified information in Obama's administration. Prior to Obama's tenure, only 3 individuals had been prosecuted.