By Lucas Ropek
Daniel Hale leaked the secrets to the press, allowing for a broader journalistic investigation into the subject.
AÂ whistleblower who leaked top secret information about Americaâs drone warfare program has been sentenced to 45 months in federal prison.
Daniel Hale, 33, who formerly worked as an intelligence analyst for the U.S. Air Force, pled guilty in March to retaining and transmitting national defense information. He was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. by Judge Liam OâGrady on Tuesday.
In 2014, Hale leaked more than 150 pages of classified material to a journalist, revealing details about the governmentâs unmanned aerial vehicle operations. Hale took the documents from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, where he was working as a contractor at the time.
Charging Hale under the Espionage Act, federal prosecutors had previously sought a maximum punishment for himâwhich wouldâve netted him 11 years behind bars.
Politico writes that Hale appeared âchoked upâ through parts of Tuesdayâs judicial proceedings but showed âno remorse about his disclosures.â Instead, he expressed regret about having played a part in Americaâs drone program.
âI am here because I stole something that was never mine to takeâprecious human life. For that, I was compensated and given a medal,â Hale said. âI couldnât keep living in a world in which people pretended that things werenât happening that were. Please your honor, forgive me for taking papers instead of human lives.â
Throughout both the Obama and Trump administrations, the government has proceeded to ramp up an aggressive crackdown on whistleblowersâseeking to impose ever harsher punishments for government operatives who disclose classified information to reporters. As example, NSA whistleblower Reality Winner was recently released from prison, after serving a majority of a 63-month sentence for leaking classified information about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.