Federal prosecutors secretly charged former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden with three felonies last week, according to a criminal complaint that was unsealed late Friday evening.
Snowden was charged with three felonies that each carry a maximum of 10 years in prison: Theft of government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information, and willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person.
The charges were filed in federal court in Alexandria, Va., on June 14. An accompanying affidavit to the complaint remains sealed.
According to earlier reports, the Justice Department is seeking for Snowden to be extradited from Hong Kong. The Justice Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The 30-year-old Snowden has leaked a variety of top secret information to The Guardian and The Washington Post over the past few weeks, including details on the National Security Agency's collection of cell phone data and electronic communications.
Here's the complaint, which was first posted by the New York Times' Charles Savage: