9 Famous Whistle-Blowers: Where Are They Now?

It's one of the big questions concerning Edward Snowden, the self-confessed leaker and National Security Agency whistle-blower: What next? While legal experts debate whether he will be extradited from Hong Kong, where he's hiding out, and how much jail time he could face, AOL Jobs decided to glean some insight into Snowden's fate by looking at past whistle-blowers. What happened to government officials, corporate execs and lowly clerks who went up against the powers-that-be and revealed secrets? (AOL, like other tech companies, said in a statement that it does "not have any knowledge of the PRISM program" that Snowden revealed in his leak.)

While some went on to have high-paying careers, many others went to jail or were ostracized, forced to live in obscurity. One famous leaker, Bradley Manning, who handed over classified videos, cables and other documents to Wikileaks, is currently standing trial for the charge of aiding the enemy. He faces life in prison.

Indeed, one thing is clear: the consequences for a whistle-blower can be severe, even though President Obama himself has signed laws that are supposed to protect them. Read on, and then tell us: What do you think should happen to Edward Snowden?