Reality Winner, who pleaded guilty in June to leaking top-secret government documents about Russian meddling in the 2016 election, is scheduled to be sentenced in a federal court in Augusta on Aug. 23.

The first leaker to be prosecuted by the Trump administration, the former National Security Agency contractor's plea agreement with prosecutors calls for her to serve five years and three months behind bars plus three years of supervised release.

After Winner leaked the NSA report last year, The Intercept — an online publication — published an article based on it, saying Russian military intelligence sent spear-phishing emails to more than 100 local election officials and launched a cyberattack against a Florida-based voting software supplier that contracts in eight states.

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Election signs for Marqus Cole and Akbar Ali are shown outside of a voting precinct at the Praise Community Church in Lawrenceville, during the state house runoff in District 106, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (Jason Getz/AJC)

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Austin Walters died from an overdose in 2021 after taking a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, his father said. A new law named after Austin and aimed at preventing deaths from fentanyl has resulted in its first convictions in Georgia, prosecutors said. (Family photo)

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