We all gave the FBI a side-eye when it labeled Black Lives Matter as a "black identity extremist" group. Now, a former FBI agent is facing prison time for acting as a whistleblower, exposing other, similarly racist tactics within the bureau, the Atlanta Black Star reports.

Terry J. Albury pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information and one count of unauthorized retention of national defense information in a St. Paul, Minneapolis federal court this week. Albury — who is black — faces a possible prison sentence of 37 to 57 months.

Albury was reportedly troubled by the culture at the FBI, feeling it to be a white-male-dominated culture that usually interacted with minority communities with "suspicion" and "disrespect."

The 39-year-old former agent allegedly leaked classified documents to an unnamed news organization between February 2016 and January 31, 2017.

In the information Albury allegedly leaked, there was apparently a document “relating to threats posed by certain individuals from a particular Middle Eastern country," and another document “relating to the use of an online platform for recruitment by a specific terrorist group.”

Though the news source was unnamed, the information correlates with The Intercept's reporting on the FBI's secret guidelines for potential informants, which appeared to some to contradict the bureau's rules against racial profiling.

“Terry Albury served the U.S. with distinction both here at home and abroad in Iraq. He accepts full responsibility for the conduct set forth in the Information. We would like to add that as the only African American FBI field agent in Minnesota, Mr. Albury’s actions were driven by a conscientious commitment to long-term national security and addressing the well-documented systemic biases within the FBI,” a statement by Albury's attorneys, obtained via The Washington Post, read.

“The situation became even more acute for him when, having previously served a tour for the FBI in Iraq, he was assigned to the counterterrorism squad and was required first-hand to implement FBI investigation directives that profiled and intimidated minority communities in Minnesota and other locations in which Terry served,” the statement continued.

U.S. District Judge Wilhelmina Wright, a black appointee of former President Obama, will preside over the sentencing.

racism in FBI

Get relevant content delivered to you once a week