A former FBI agent gets a prison sentence for leaking documents

ST. PAUL, Minnesota – A former Minnesota FBI agent who admitted to disclosing classified internal documents to a journalist was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison.

Terry James Albury, 39, pleaded guilty in April to a charge of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information and unauthorized preservation of national defense information. He seemed to cry in court and took a few moments to reconcile himself to read a statement before being sentenced.

"I really wanted to make a difference and never had the intention of putting anyone in danger," said Albury, his voice faltering. He took responsibility for his actions and apologized to the people he had injured.

Prosecutors said that Albury had betrayed public trust when he had stolen more than 70 documents, including 50 classified ones. The information he shared with an online news agency included a "secret" document about how the FBI was evaluating confidential information.

Judge Wilhelmina Wright, a US District Judge, said that Albury abused his security clearance and his status as an FBI agent.

"You did it knowingly. You have done it willingly. You knew that you were acting like a criminal act and that you were endangering the country's security, "the judge told Albury, adding that the prison sentence reflected the seriousness of the crime and was meant to deter others from doing the same.

Alury's defense lawyers had applied for probation, claiming that he had acted patriotically and was morally in conflict with the FBI's anti-terrorism policy, which he considered racial profiling.

Albury told the court that he had joined the FBI with a "sincere desire to serve, protect and make this world a better place," but that over time he believed that some of the FBI's anti-terrorism policies were harming the security national. Albury, who is black, also felt isolated as a minority of the FBI.

"I now recognize that there are other avenues and I would have liked to trust the internal FBI processes to address my concerns," Albury said.

Wright, who is also black, said that she thought that Alury thought his motives were honorable, but that they were wrong. She stated that she was not blind to the problems facing minorities, but "that these conditions did not require you to commit a crime. And in my opinion, they are not an excuse to do it. "

Albury has not been arrested and will be allowed to report to the authorities once he has been assigned to a prison term. He and his lawyers made no comment when they left the courthouse.

The Trump administration and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have made the prosecution of government employees who transmit sensitive information to the media a priority. The sessions said last year that the Justice Department had more than tripled the number of investigations into leaks ongoing since the departure of President Barack Obama.

Albury has been accused of sharing documents with online media. A document dated August 17, 2011, dealt with how the FBI assessed confidential informants. The date of this document and its purpose corresponded to an article of January 31, 2017 on The Intercept.

Jurists also weighed in before sentencing. A group of 17 constitutional law, first amendment, and media experts asked the court to set a sentence that would take into account the constitutional protection of freedom of expression and the public interest in disclosure. Albury be brought to national security.