http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20020907-9999_2m7computer.html Sailor gets 7 months in theft of secret Navy property Petty officer took hard drives, data By James W. Crawley UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER September 7, 2002 In a case interlaced with theft, potential espionage and the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon, a Navy submariner pleaded guilty yesterday to charges he improperly possessed defense secrets and stole and sold government-owned computer hard drives. Petty Officer 1st Class Bryan Moody was sentenced by a military judge to seven months in the brig, loss of pay and was reduced to seaman recruit. Moody, an electrician's mate, formerly assigned to the submarine Helena at Point Loma Naval Base, likely will be dismissed from the Navy after he completes his sentence. Despite describing the case as "extremely troubling," Navy prosecutors agreed to lesser charges to keep classified information from being divulged during the court-martial and for Moody's cooperation in determining whether military secrets were compromised. "The primary importance in these cases is the damage assessment," said Lt. Cmdr. Shannon Kopplin. "There is a competing government concern that's of equal or greater importance than confining someone (in jail)." As part of the plea bargain, the most serious charge, possession of classified information, was dropped in favor of a lesser count of possessing national defense documents. Moody could have been sentenced to more than 18 years on all the charges. Navy investigators found dozens of computer diskettes, a secret Navy chart and three pictures that officials said were classified "secret" at Moody's San Diego home and at his former wife's residence in San Diego, after she called authorities. The diskettes reportedly contained classified tests and exam questions about the nuclear reactors and submarine operations, both closely held naval secrets. The chart, sources familiar with the case said, included information about efforts to track a Russian submarine off the West Coast several years ago. Navy officials, citing security concerns, refused to comment. The pictures showed Moody and another sailor inside the Helena's top-secret reactor compartment, sources said. Between 1996 and June 2001, Moody stole from the Helena at least five computer hard drives, which the Navy was trading in for new equipment. Moody sold three of the five drives on E-Bay to people in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Florida. Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents tracked down two drives, but one sold to a man in Florida was resold to a Texas used-parts distributor, which sold it to a firm in the Dominican Republic. None of the hard drives seized by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service contained classified information, and there was no evidence Moody had passed secrets to foreign agents, testified special agent Krista Pixley. The Sept. 11 attack put an interesting spin on the case. The chart had been sent to the Pentagon for review by Navy intelligence officers last summer. It was destroyed when the hijacked jetliner crashed into the building. Moody argued that a lax attitude aboard the Helena allowed him to take the hard drives out of recycling bins and casually remove secret information. "I never viewed my actions as aberrant at the time," he said during his sentencing. But, now, Moody said, "I've harmed the U.S. Navy with my actions."