FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A former government contractor serving a prison sentence in Texas after pleading guilty to mailing a classified report to a news organization has tested positive for the coronavirus, her sister said.
Reality Winner’s sister, Brittany Winner, told the Daily Report on Monday that her sister told her via email of the positive test. Reality Winner is housed at the Federal Medical Center-Carswell in Fort Worth.
Winner’s emergency appeal seeking a compassionate release is pending at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Her attorney first sought Winner’s release in April after COVID-19 began spreading in prisons.
Winner is asking to serve the remainder of her sentence at home.
Brittany Winner said her sister doesn’t currently have symptoms.
Reality Winner pleaded guilty in 2018 to a single count of transmitting national security information. The former Air Force translator worked as a contractor at a National Security Agency office in Augusta, Georgia, when she printed a classified report and left the building with it tucked into her pantyhose.
Winner, who grew up in Texas, was sentenced to five years and three months in prison. The Daily Report says she’s served three years and one month.