Charles Littlejohn, a former US tax worker who leaked former President Donald Trump’s tax returns has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Littlejohn stole tax data from thousands of wealthy Americans while working as a contractor for the US-wide Internal Revenue Service.
His sentence was the statutory maximum penalty that could have been imposed.
He would also spend three years under supervised release and pay a $5,000 fine for his actions.
Littlejohn’s offense was “an attack on our constitutional democracy”, federal District Judge Ana Reyes said before sentencing him on Monday.
“He targeted the sitting president of the United States of America, and that is exceptional by any measure,” she added. “It cannot be open season on our elected officials.”
In a statement to the court, Littlejohn acknowledged his wrongdoing.
“I made my decision with full knowledge that I would likely end up in a courtroom to answer for my serious crime,” he said.
“I used my skills to systematically violate the privacy of thousands of people.”
His legal team argued in a court filing that Littlejohn had acted “out of a deep, moral belief that the American people had a right to know the information and sharing it was the only way to effect change”.
“He did what he thought was right at the time, but now fully acknowledges that he was wrong,” his lawyers added.
Littlejohn pleaded guilty in October to one count of disclosing tax return information.
