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AUGUSTA, Ga. — A former government contractor sentenced to more than five years in prison for mailing a classified U.S. report to a news organization has received what prosecutors are calling the longest sentence ever imposed for a federal crime involving leaks to the media.

Reality Winner, 26, pleaded guilty in June to a single count of transmitting national security information. The sentence handed down Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge J. Randal Hall was in line with a plea agreement between Winner’s defence team and prosecutors, who recommended she serve five years and three months behind bars.

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The former Air Force translator had worked as a contractor at a National Security Agency’s office in Augusta, Georgia, when she printed a classified report and left the building with it tucked into her pantyhose. Winner told the FBI she mailed the document to an online news outlet.

Wearing an orange jail uniform and shackles in court, Winner said Thursday that she took responsibility for her actions. She said she had made “an undeniable mistake.”