Imprisoned Ex-CIA officer loses appeal of leak conviction

A federal appeals court has upheld all but one of the convictions of a former CIA officer found guilty of leaking government secrets to a reporter.

A decision from a three judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came Thursday in the case of Jeffrey Sterling, who's serving a 3 1/2 year prison sentence.

The 4th Circuit tossed one of Sterling's convictions, but kept the rest in place. His prison sentence won't change.

Sterling was convicted in 2015 under the Espionage Act for leaking details of a CIA mission to New York Times journalist James Risen. Sterling maintains he's innocent.

Prosecutors portrayed Sterling as a disgruntled former employee who exposed a plan to stall Iranian ambitions to build a nuclear weapon to try to discredit the CIA.