NYTimes | Jeffrey A. Sterling, a former Central Intelligence Agency
officer, was convicted of espionage Monday on charges that he told a
reporter for The New York Times about a secret operation to disrupt
Iran’s nuclear program.
The
conviction is a significant victory for the Obama administration, which
has conducted an unprecedented crackdown on officials who speak to
journalists about security matters without the administration’s
approval. Prosecutors prevailed after a yearslong fight in which the
reporter, James Risen, refused to identify his sources.
The
case revolved around a C.I.A. operation in which a former Russian
scientist provided Iran with intentionally flawed nuclear component
schematics. Mr. Risen revealed the operation in his 2006 book, “State of War,” describing it as a mismanaged, potentially reckless mission that may have inadvertently aided the Iranian nuclear program.
On
the third day of deliberations, the jury in federal court in
Alexandria, Va., convicted Mr. Sterling on nine felony counts. Mr.
Sterling, who worked for the C.I.A. from 1993 to 2002 and now lives in
O’Fallon, Mo., faces a maximum possible sentence of decades in prison,
though the actual sentence is likely to be far shorter. Judge Leonie M.
Brinkema of Federal District Court, who presided over the weeklong
trial, allowed Mr. Sterling to remain free on bond and set sentencing
for April 24.
