Ex-CIA officer charged with leak to Times reporter
Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 08:55PM 
WASHINGTON – A former CIA officer has been indicted on charges of disclosing national security secrets after being accused of leaking classified information about Iran to a New York Times reporter.
Federal prosecutors charged Jeffrey Sterling with 10 counts related to improperly keeping and disclosing national security information.
The indictment did not say specifically what was leaked but, from the dates and other details, it was clear that the case centered on leaks to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist James Risen for his 2006 book, "State of War." The book revealed details about the CIA's covert spy war with Iran.
Sterling, 43, of O'Fallon, Mo., was arrested Thursday and appeared in federal court in St. Louis later in the day. U.S. Magistrate Judge Terry I. Adelman told him he would be detained through the weekend because the government had declared him a danger to the community. There was no plea entered. Another detention hearing was scheduled for Monday afternoon.
Sterling served on the Iranian desk at the CIA and handled Iranian spies who had defected to the United States. In Chapter 9 of the book "A Rogue Operation," Risen detailed how a CIA officer mistakenly revealed the CIA's network in Iran in 2004.
Iranian security officials were able to "roll up" the CIA's agent network in the country. Risen called it an "espionage disaster."
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