Ex-CIA officer Kiriakou pleads guilty to leaking covert operative's identity to reporter

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A former CIA officer has pleaded guilty to leaking the identity of one of the agency's covert operatives to a reporter and will be sentenced to more than two years in prison.

John Kiriakou (keer-ee-AH'-koo) of Arlington pleaded guilty to a single count of disclosing information that identified a covert agent during a hearing Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped charges that had been filed under the World War I-era Espionage Act. They also dropped a count of making false statements.

Under the plea, all sides agreed to a prison term of two and a half years.