Sachtleben worked for the FBI as a bomb technician from 1983-2008 and held top secret security clearance.

Stored secrets

In 2008, he was rehired as a contractor, maintaining his security clearance and continuing to have access to classified defence information, according to court documents.

On 2 May 2017, he disclosed secret information to a reporter, according to a court document he signed.

Nine days later he was arrested on separate charges of trading images of child pornography online, having been identified during an investigation into another man accused of possession of child pornography.

An FBI search of Sachtleben's computer, seized in the child pornography investigation, revealed improperly stored secret documents, according to court records.

On Monday, Sachtleben pleaded guilty to unauthorised disclosure of national defence information, unauthorised possession and retention of national defence information, and two charges of distributing and possessing child pornography.

The plea agreement calls for him to be sentenced to a total of 140 months in prison - 43 for the national security offenses and 97 for the child pornography charges.

综合外国媒体报道，美国司法部9月23日宣布，一名曾在美国联邦调查局（FBI）工作25年的排爆专家已向法庭认罪，承认向美联社泄露机密信息，如果法官接受其认罪协议的话，他将入狱12年。

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