Augusta: A former US government contractor has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for mailing a classified report to a news organisation.

Prosecutors are calling that the longest sentence ever handed down 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.

Reality Winner pleaded guilty. Credit:Augusta Chronicle/AP

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