Kiriakou emerged from court on Friday, saying he was "positive, confident and optimistic."

He did not take questions from reporters but thanked supporters, including those who have signed a letter to the White House asking that his sentence be commuted.

The judge is allowing Kiriakou to surrender to authorities at a later date to serve his sentence.

Charges against Kiriakou followed an investigation that began when lawyers for detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, issued a court filing with classified information not provided by the government.

A probe found that defense lawyers got the information from a journalist, who got it from Kiriakou, the Justice Department said.