ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A 14-year CIA veteran was sentenced to more than two years in prison Friday for leaking a covert officer’s identity to a reporter.
The 2 1/2-year sentence for John Kiriakou, 48, of Arlington had been negotiated in advance as part of a plea bargain he struck with federal prosecutors last year for violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. No one had been convicted under the law since 1985, when a former CIA clerk received two years in prison for divulging classified information about operations in Ghana to an agent from that country with whom she had been romantically involved.
At Friday’s sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Leone Brinkema made clear she would have sentenced Kiriakou to far more than 30 months if she had the discretion.
“I think 30 months is, frankly, way too light,” Brinkema said. “This case is not a case about a whistle-blower. It’s a case about a person who betrayed a very solemn trust.”
Absent the plea deal, federal sentencing guidelines would have called for a prison term of at least eight years, which Brinkema said she would have imposed. She said she understood the government’s desire to secure a plea deal, given the difficulties in holding a public trial for national security cases that invariably delve into classified evidence.
Kiriakou, whose supporters have portrayed him as an anti-torture whistle-blower being persecuted for exposing secrets about CIA torture, chose not to speak at Friday’s hearing, to which Brinkema responded, “Perhaps you’ve already said too much.”
Kiriakou did give a brief statement outside the courthouse after the hearing, thanking supporters.
“I come out of court positive, confident and optimistic,” he said.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 01/26/2013