A former CIA agent has been convicted of revealing classified government secrets to a reporter.

Jeffrey Sterling faces decades in prison after providing details of a covert operation targeting Iran to a journalist who ultimately wrote a book about the incident. This is the latest in the Obama administration's attempts to punish whistleblowers.

Sterling, a 47-year-old former intelligence agent, was convicted on Monday of all nine counts he faced after the jury deliberated for three days, reports the Associated Press. Although the prosecution did not have concrete evidence Sterling provided journalist James Risen with classified information, they had strong enough circumstantial evidence to win the case.

In his 2006 book "State of War," Risen tells of an attempt by the U.S. to undermine Iran's nuclear power ambitions by using a Russian scientist, codenamed Merlin, who would provide faulty information to the Iranians. The project had flaws but the U.S. planned to move forward with it until it became public.

Sterling was Merlin's handler and was assigned to the case from 1998 to 2000, a Justice Department release states. He left the CIA in 2002.

The U.S. government believes Sterling is behind the leak but his attorneys deny his involvement and say the leak likely came from within Capitol Hill. Risen has refused to name his source.

Prosecutor Eric Olshan used one of the book's chapters in his closing arguments, arguing it tells of more than just the Iran plan but also Sterling's personal problems with the agency. Sterling, who is black, had complained about racial discrimination but these were not addressed.

According to the New York Times, Risen did cover the complaint, has a relationship with Sterling and talked with him multiple times on the phone. However, Sterling's defense argued the prosecution did not have evidence Sterling divulged any classified information to Risen.

"The government has great lawyers," said Barry J. Pollack, a defense lawyer. "It has a great theory. It just made a great argument. What the government lacks is evidence."

The jury's conviction ended a decade-long investigation and trial. Jurors heard from former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; CIA operatives identified only by their first names and with their faces hidden; and the Russian scientist, identified as Merlin, as well as his wife, Mrs. Merlin.

Sterling faces decades in prison but he has been released on bond until his sentencing hearing in April 24. His attorney, Edward B. MacMahon Jr., expressed his disappointment but said he would fight to have the conviction thrown out. Otherwise, he will file an appeal.

For the Obama administration and the Justice Department, this is another victory against the whistleblowers, though the agency does not label Sterling as such.

"This is a just and appropriate outcome," said Attorney General Eric Holder, according to a press release. "The defendant's unauthorized disclosures of classified information compromised operations undertaken in defense of America's national security ... And they constituted an egregious breach of the public trust by someone who had sworn to uphold it."

He added Sterling's trial and conviction showed how the government could prosecute these kinds of cases "without interfering with journalists' ability to do their jobs."

However, last year's World Press Freedom Index, a report on press freedom compiled by Reporters Without Borders, saw the U.S. drop 13 places down to 46th place. The report cites the country's recent trend to pursue whistleblowers and harassing media agencies for records and names the Sterling case as an example.

"Countries that pride themselves on being democracies and respecting the rule of law have not set an example, far from it," the report states. "Freedom of information is too often sacrificed to an overly broad and abusive interpretation of national security needs, marking a disturbing retreat from democratic practices."