Woman accused of leak indicted, faces detention hearing

Published 7:33 am Friday, June 9, 2017

AUGUSTA, Ga. — A young woman accused of leaking U.S. government secrets to a reporter was indicted by a federal grand jury as she awaited a court hearing Thursday to determine whether she must remain jailed pending a trial.

Prosecutors plan to ask a judge to deny bond for 25-year-old Reality Winner, according to court records filed in the case. A grand jury returned an indictment Wednesday in U.S. District Court charging her with a single count of illegally retaining and transmitting national defense information.

It’s the same charge federal authorities used to arrest Winner, a government contractor and former Air Force linguist, after FBI agents interviewed her and searched her Augusta home Saturday.

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