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A former CIA officer convicted of what the government called one of the most important disclosures of classified information in U.S. government history was sentenced Thursday to 40 years in prison.
Joshua Adam Schulte, 35, was convicted in a separate case of espionage, computer hacking, contempt of court, making false statements to the FBI and child pornography, said Damian, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.・Mr. Williams made the announcement on Thursday.
Schulte’s sentencing in New York federal court replaces convictions in three trials that ended on March 9, 2020, July 13, 2022, and September 13, 2023, according to federal court records. It was accepted.
Prosecutors previously said a series of 26 disclosures by WikiLeaks, a global nonprofit journalism organization that publishes classified information, news leaks, and classified media information from anonymous sources, revealed CIA information-gathering methods and secrets. He said the disclosure of the information caused serious harm to the national security of the United States. It would provide a way for “adversaries” to direct “powerful cyber weapons” against the United States. ”
Prosecutors said Schulte, a disgruntled CIA employee with expertise in developing tools to covertly copy electronic data, was one of the few CIA employees given access to the leaked information.
The “vast majority” of Schulte’s 40-year sentence was for the theft of CIA files, with six years and eight months of that time for a child pornography conviction, the Associated Press reported.
“While we will probably never know the full extent of the damage, there is no doubt that the damage was significant,” Judge Jesse M. Fuhrman said at the sentencing hearing, the media reported. He pointed out that he had shown no remorse for his actions.
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“Cyber espionage activities related to terrorist organizations”
From 2012 to 2016, Schulte worked as a software developer at the Cyber Intelligence Center, which conducts “offensive cyber operations, i.e., cyber espionage related to terrorist organizations and foreign governments,” according to a statement from Williams’ office. was employed as.
A trial in July 2022 related to the secret “Vault 7 leak” revealed by WikiLeaks in March 2017 will reveal how the CIA hacked smartphones in overseas espionage missions and how they were connected to the internet. The Associated Press reported that efforts have been made to convert old TVs into recording devices.
The trial found that Schulte helped create hacking tools while working at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
In the case involving child sexual abuse images, Schulte was convicted on Sept. 13, 2023, of downloading more than 10,000 child pornography files onto his computer, according to federal court records.
A 14-page indictment filed by FBI Special Agent Jeff David Donaldson alleges that Schulte was involved in child abuse from at least 2009 until March 2017, after he left the CIA and moved from Virginia to New York. Downloaded sexually illicit images and videos from the Internet.
“Traitors and Marauders”
“Mr. Schulte betrayed his country by committing one of the most brazen and heinous espionage crimes in American history,” Williams said in a statement after Thursday’s sentencing. “He has caused untold damage to our national security by seeking retaliation against the CIA for security violations during Mr. Schulte’s tenure.”
“When the FBI got him,” Williams continued. Mr. Schulte went further, trying to further harm the country by waging what he described as an “information war” by releasing top secret information from behind bars. The outstanding investigative work of the FBI and the department’s career prosecutors exposed Schulte as a traitor and predator, ensuring that he would spend 40 years in prison. ”
Contributed by The New Jersey Herald, part of The Associated Press and USA TODAY NETWORK.
Natalie Neisa Alland is a senior reporter at USA TODAY. Contact her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her at X @nataliealund.
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