Unwanted Spy

In May 2015, Jeffrey Sterling was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. He was convicted of violating the Espionage Act by revealing details about Operation Merlin (a covert operation that aimed to frame Iran by leaking flawed nuclear blueprints) to journalist and author James Risen. He was released from prison in January 2018.

Here, Sterling chronicles his story, from his youth in a poor, segregated neighbourhood in the Midwest, through law school and into the CIA. At the CIA, he rose through the ranks to become operations officer in the Iran task force and later a case officer. But then he hit a glass ceiling and was told that as a black man, he stood out too much and couldn't handle sensitive operations. In 2000, he filed a complaint with the CIA's Equal Employment Office and, a year later, the first racial discrimination lawsuit filed against the agency. But his claim was thrown out and he was terminated, even though he was one of few case officers who were fluent in Farsi, a skill that was in high demand at the time. In 2003, he raised concerns about Operation Merlin with the Senate Intelligence Committee, to no effect. Then, after years working as a health-care fraud investigator, he was arrested by FBI agents, his home was searched and he was charged with espionage. The verdict put him in prison.

After serving three years in prison, Sterling is still proud of his work with the CIA and considers himself first and foremost a patriot. It is his patriotism that compelled him to blow the whistle on the systemic racism of the CIA and on the misguided operation in Iran and now to pursue justice.

“" Unwanted Spy is at the same time an American tragedy and a first-person account of how to live an upstanding life against daunting odds. Jeffrey Sterling is a patriot. He is also one of the most courageous and underappreciated whistleblowers in contemporary America. We all want to believe the best about our country, our government, and our society. But the truth is sometimes ugly. And sometimes patriots are harmed by that ugliness. Jeffrey Sterling was vilified by our government because he wouldn't toe the line. He paid for his conscientiousness with his freedom. Unwanted Spy makes it clear, though, that he was right and 'they' were wrong. He's the better man for it."-- John Kiriakou, former CIA counterterrorismofficer and senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee”

"Unwanted Spy is at the same time an American tragedy and a first-person account of how to live an upstanding life against daunting odds. Jeffrey Sterling is a patriot. He is also one of the most courageous and underappreciated whistleblowers in contemporary America. We all want to believe the best about our country, our government, and our society. But the truth is sometimes ugly. And sometimes patriots are harmed by that ugliness. Jeffrey Sterling was vilified by our government because he wouldn't toe the line. He paid for his conscientiousness with his freedom. Unwanted Spy makes it clear, though, that he was right and 'they' were wrong. He's the better man for it."--John Kiriakou, former CIA counterterrorismofficer and senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
"A book that amply demonstrates grave flaws in the criminal justice system."--Kirkus Reviews
"Americans owe a debt to Jeffrey Sterling, who told the truth and endured imprisonment for us. His story is a powerful tale of integrity and bravery and the price a decent American paid for defending the values enshrined in the Bill of Rights. Make your children read it and learn."--Charles Glass, former ABC News Chief Middle East Correspondent and author of They Fought Alone: The True Story of the Starr Brothers, British Secret Agents in Nazi-Occupied France
"[His] autobiography resonantly places his CIA experience in the context of epochal grievances concerning institutional racism."--The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS-Americas)

Jeffrey Sterling is a lawyer and former CIA case officer who was convicted of violating the Espionage Act and was in federal prison in Colorado. Before his trial and conviction, Sterling worked at the CIA, including for the Iran task force, for nearly a decade. He studied political science at Millikin University and holds a law degree from the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. He was released from prison in January 2018.

In May 2015, Jeffrey Sterling was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. He was convicted of violating the Espionage Act by revealing details about Operation Merlin (a covert operation that aimed to frame Iran by leaking flawed nuclear blueprints) to journalist and author James Risen. He was released from prison in January 2018.Here, Sterling chronicles his story, from his youth in a poor, segregated neighbourhood in the Midwest, through law school and into the CIA. At the CIA, he rose through the ranks to become operations officer in the Iran task force and later a case officer. But then he hit a glass ceiling and was told that as a black man, he stood out too much and couldn't handle sensitive operations. In 2000, he filed a complaint with the CIA's Equal Employment Office and, a year later, the first racial discrimination lawsuit filed against the agency. But his claim was thrown out and he was terminated, even though he was one of few case officers who were fluent in Farsi, a skill that was in high demand at the time. In 2003, he raised concerns about Operation Merlin with the Senate Intelligence Committee, to no effect. Then, after years working as a health-care fraud investigator, he was arrested by FBI agents, his home was searched and he was charged with espionage. The verdict put him in prison.After serving three years in prison, Sterling is still proud of his work with the CIA and considers himself first and foremost a patriot. It is his patriotism that compelled him to blow the whistle on the systemic racism of the CIA and on the misguided operation in Iran and now to pursue justice.

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