Federal prosecutors denied a U.S. Navy sailor’s appeal for leniency after the 29-year-old compared his decision to snap classified pictures inside a nuclear submarine to Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state.
"The defendant is grasping at highly imaginative and speculative straws in trying to further draw a comparison to the matter of Sec. Hilary Clinton based upon virtually no understanding and knowledge of the facts involved, the information at issue, not to mention any issues if intent and knowledge," prosecutors wrote in a court filing Monday night.
The prosecutors recommended that the federal judge sentence Petty Officer First Class Kristian Saucier to more than five years in prison on a felony charge of retaining national defense information without permission.
Saucier snapped six photos inside the nuclear attack submarine U.S.S. Alexandria in 2009. The cellphone pictures were of classified areas that included a nuclear reactor.
Saucier’s lawyer submitted a court filing last week arguing that it would be "unjust and unfair" for the sailor to "receive any sentence other than probation for a crime those more powerful than him will likely avoid."
Last month, the FBI concluded a year-long federal investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server and found that eight email chains contained "Top Secret" information while another 36 contained "Secret" information.
Though FBI Director James Comey said during a press conference last month that Clinton and her aides were "extremely careless" with handling classified information on her unsecured server, he urged the Justice Department not to bring charges against the Democratic presidential nominee.
Saucier is pressing U.S. District Court Judge Stefan Underhill to give him probation during his sentencing in Connecticut on Friday.
"In our case, Mr. Saucier possessed six photographs classified as ‘confidential/restricted,’ far less than Clinton’s 110 emails," Saucier’s defense attorney wrote in a court filing, referencing the number of emails on Clinton’s server that contained classified material.
Saucier faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted.