Thomas Drake Plea Deal In NSA Leak Case A Blow To Gov't

BALTIMORE -- A former top official with the National Security Agency who was accused of passing classified documents to a reporter has agreed to a plea bargain with prosecutors in a deal that pleased civil-liberties advocates but is a setback for the Obama administration's effort to crack down on leakers.

Former NSA executive Thomas Drake, 54, of Maryland is expected to plead guilty Friday in federal court in Baltimore to the unauthorized use of a government computer, a misdemeanor, while the government will drop 10 felony counts, including the unauthorized possession of classified documents, that could have sent him to prison for 35 years.

The lesser charge still carries a maximum penalty of up to one year behind bars and a $100,000 fine, but the Government Accountability Project, a whistleblower advocacy group, said that under the arrangement Drake wouldn't spend any time behind bars or pay a fine.

The deal was struck after nearly a week of negotiations between federal prosecutors and Drake's defense team, and averted what was expected to be a three-week trial.

The government's case against Drake, who blew the whistle on what he considered a billion-dollar boondoggle at his former agency, appeared to unravel after prosecutors said early this week that they planned to withdraw some evidence rather than risk exposing an unidentified telecommunications technology targeted by the NSA's vast electronic eavesdropping network.
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