By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com
WASHINGTON — An FBI contract linguist with top security clearance, pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to providing classified documents to an Internet blog, which published some of the information.
Shamai Kedem Leibowitz, 39, of Silver Spring, Md., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md., to disclosing to an unauthorized person 5 “Secret” FBI documents that contained classified information, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
His plea agreement calls for a sentence of 20 months in prison, but the sentencing judge does not have to accept the agreement.
The one-page criminal information did not disclose any details of the documents that related to communication intelligence activities of the U.S.
“As a trusted member of the FBI ranks, Leibowitz abused the trust of the FBI and the American public by using his access to classified information for his own purposes,” FBI special agent in charge Richard McFeely of Baltimore in a prepared statement.
Leibowitz worked as an FBI contract linguist in the FBI’s Calverton, Md. office from January to August 2009.
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