BALTIMORE - The US Justice Department on Thursday reached a plea agreement in the leak case against a former National Security Agency official.

In court papers, the government said Thomas Drake will plead guilty to exceeding authorized use of a computer, a misdemeanor.

Drake had been charged with obstruction of justice, lying to the FBI and illegal possession of classified NSA documents under the seldom-used Espionage Act of 1917, even though he was not charged with spying. If he had been convicted of those crimes, he could have faced up to 35 years in prison. The court documents in the plea deal contain no recommendation on sentencing for Drake, but misdemeanors carry a maximum penalty of one year in jail.

The documents filed Thursday by federal prosecutors said the government and Drake agreed that if the case had gone to trial, the government would have proved that from February 2006 through about March 2007, Drake intentionally accessed a system called NSANet, obtained official NSA information and provided it orally and in writing to another person who was not permitted or authorized to receive it.

Drake "knew that NSA restricted the use of and access to its computers and NSANet to official use only," said the court papers.

Drake's lawyers claim he is a beleaguered whistleblower, while prosecutors say the only issue in the case is whether he illegally kept classified materials on a personal computer and in his basement.

At the Justice Department, spokeswoman Laura Sweeney declined to comment on the plea agreement.