Woman sentenced to over 5 years in jail for leaking secret U.S. gov't report

A 26-year-old woman who pleaded guilty to leaking to media a secret U.S. government report about alleged Russia's attempts to hack the 2016 U.S. elections was sentenced Thursday to five years and three months in jail.

Reality Winner, from southern U.S. state Georgia, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and no fine, except for a 100-dollar special assessment fee.

The crime carried a maximum penalty of 10 years, according to local media reports.

Winner was a contractor with the U.S. National Security Agency. She pleaded guilty in June to copying a classified report that detailed the alleged Russian government's efforts to penetrate a Florida-based voting software supplier.

The U.S. authorities have never confirmed what exactly the report said, or identified the news organization that received it, said local reports.

Winner's attorneys called her a good person with an otherwise clean criminal record, and said that she suffers from depression and bulimia.

Russia has denied that it's government had any role in hacking the Democrats in 2016.