San Diego secrets a go go.
Matthew X
profrv at nex.net.au
Mon Sep 9 07:00:05 PDT 2002
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."
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