[8] In 2016 and 2017, he filed complaints and wrote letters regarding mistreatment, lack of medical treatment for life-threatening conditions, and false allegations against him by corrections officers leading to further punitive measures.

He held a top secret security clearance and had access to sensitive compartmented information, including classified cables, CIA spies, and operations.

[citation needed] After training in Persian in 1997, he was sent first to Bonn, Germany, and two years later to New York City to recruit Iranian nationals as agents for the CIA as part of a secret intelligence operation involving Iran's weapons capabilities.

[12] From early 1998 to May 2000, Sterling assumed responsibility as case officer for a Russian emigre with an engineering background in nuclear physics and production, whom the CIA employed as a carrier to pass flawed design plans to the Iranians.

[13][non-primary source needed] In April 2000, Sterling filed a complaint with the CIA's Equal Employment Office about management's alleged racial discrimination practices.

The CIA subsequently revoked Sterling's authorization to receive or possess classified documents concerning the secret operation and placed him on administrative leave in March 2001.

[16][non-primary source needed] Sterling's lawsuit accusing CIA officials of racial discrimination was forced to be dismissed by invoking the state secrets privilege.

[29][30] Sterling maintained that his communications with Risen did not involve secret information, and the prosecution was designed to punish him for filing a race discrimination suit against the CIA.

Judge Brinkema said there was "no more critical secret" than revealing the identity of a man working with the CIA, and that Sterling deserved a harsher penalty than other recent leakers because he had not pleaded guilty or admitted wrongdoing.