A former CIA software engineer has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for leaking classified information and possessing child sexual abuse material
Joshua Schulte, 35, was convicted in 2022 of four counts of espionage and computer hacking, as well as one count of lying to FBI agents, after delivering confidential documents to whistleblower organization WikiLeaks.
Schulte was also found guilty of contempt of court and making false statements in 2020, as well as possessing child abuse material from the previous year.
The majority of the punishment handed out on Thursday was for the so-called Vault 7 leak, which disclosed unflattering facts about the CIA’s eavesdropping abroad.
The disclosure, dubbed a “digital Pearl Harbor” by the CIA, revealed how US spies hacked Apple and Android cellphones and attempted to use internet-connected televisions as listening devices.
According to Yahoo News, the security breach caused US officials to launch an “all-out war” against Wikileaks, including discussions about the kidnapping or killing of its founder, Julian Assange.
Assange was indicted on espionage allegations in 2019, prompting outcry from press freedom advocates, and is presently battling extradition to the United States.
Judge Jesse M. Furman stated that the whole degree of Schulte’s damage would most likely never be known, “but I have no doubt it was massive.”
According to Furman, Schulte continued to commit crimes while in jail, including attempting to leak more sensitive documents and creating a secret file on his computer containing photographs of child sexual assault.
US Attorney Damian Williams stated in a statement that Schulte had committed some of the “most brazen, heinous crimes of espionage in American history.”
“He caused untold damage to our national security in his quest for revenge against the CIA for its response to Schulte’s security breaches while employed there,” Williams said in a statement.
Schulte addressed the court ahead of his sentence, complaining about the difficult conditions he had undergone in custody, such as being refused hot water and being subjected to incessant noise and artificial light.
Schulte also claimed that it was unreasonable for the prosecutors to seek a life sentence since they had previously offered him a plea agreement that would have resulted in a 10-year jail sentence.
“This is not justice the government seeks, but vengeance,” he told reporters.
