Former CIA Coder Sentenced to 40 Years for WikiLeaks Breach, Child Pornography Charges

Joshua Schulte was found guilty of transmitting classified materials related to the tactics and tools used by the CIA to WikiLeaks.

In this courtroom sketch, Joshua Schulte is seated at the defense table flanked by his attorneys during jury deliberations in New York, on March 4, 2020. Elizabeth Williams via AP

A former software engineer for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for carrying out the “largest data breach” of classified materials in the agency’s history. He also faced charges related to child abuse imagery, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.

Joshua Schulte, a 35-year-old former CIA programmer, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman in a federal court in New York on Thursday for espionage, computer hacking, contempt of court, making false statements to the FBI, and child pornography charges.