Navy Nuclear Engineer Charged With Attempted Sale of Sub Secrets to Foreign Country

justdoit19 said:
I truly feel for the innocent children.

Their life trajectory forever changed.

I can ONLY think, that parents who do stuff like this (any crime even), simply must think they won’t get caught? Absent addiction to drug issues (where one becomes hopelessly desperate) I just don’t get it. When kiddos are involved.
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We don't know their motive. Sometimes people are brainwashed, misled, or do things under duress. Some people are almost completely controlled by another person. I'm not excusing wrong behavoir but we don't know their motive or what they believe about their kid's well being.
 
UHBlackhawk said:
Yeah.
Except the Rosenbergs.
And David Greenglass.
And Klaus Fuchs.
And the Cambridge Five.
And Theodore Hall.
Many others who seemed to be more politically motivated.
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Greenglass was recruited by the Soviets before the end of WW2. When he recruited his sister and BIL, the Rosenbergs, I don't know. Ijust drove through Ossining last weekend.

The Cambridge Five were spies from the 1930's.

Klaus Fuchs was in the middle of WW2, working on the Manhattan Project.

Theodore Hall cut his political teeth during the War.

Maybe you didn't read what I wrote. "At least since WW2 there have been very few "ideological" traitors."

The most notorious since WW2, Aldrich Ames, Robert Hanssen and Edward Howard were hardly Communists.
 
If found guilty, he needs to receive AT LEAST a life sentence. Enough playing around with this stuff. He tried to sell classified military information to a foreign country. Inexcusable.
 
I would suspect a super max is headed to them in their future. Now it will be interesting if they decide to have a trial or take a plea. I guess it will depend on a few things, but their ‘reason’ and how much they want the media attention for it could definitely get interesting.
 
Coincidentally, the only legal application of the death penalty in Maryland is for treason. They will get at least 5 years, but probably more. I would surmise that they can be charged with Treason and Misprision of treason, but I'm not an attorney.

§2381. Treason​

Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

§2382. Misprision of treason​

Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States and having knowledge of the commission of any treason against them, conceals and does not, as soon as may be, disclose and make known the same to the President or to some judge of the United States, or to the governor or to some judge or justice of a particular State, is guilty of misprision of treason and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than seven years, or both.
 
Good point. It's not technically treason if they aren't helping an enemy of the State of Maryland (Maryland has a treason law on the books) or an enemy of The United States. They could be charged with a State crime or a Federal crime, or a mixture. I imagine. Again, I'm not an attorney!

Did they know or care to whom they were selling? Admittedly, I haven't read everything about this case. :confused:
 
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THParent said:
Good point. It's not technically treason if they aren't helping an enemy of the State of Maryland (Maryland has a treason law on the books) or an enemy of The United States. They could be charged with a State crime or a Federal crime, or a mixture. I imagine. Again, I'm not an attorney!

Did they know or care who they were selling it to? Admittedly, I haven't read everything about this case. :confused:
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We know they thought they were selling it to a specific country, which I have not seen published. It isn’t an English speaking country I assume.
 
I wonder how much you vet someone who is transferring cryptocurrency electronically to you after having picked up a dead drop of classified information in a PB&J sandwich, though.

Clearly not enough to find out that they're Feds. ;)
 
All the defense would have to do there is prove that they didn't think that the information they were passing would in any way be used to injure the USA. There's a whole lot of "intent" used in that section of the Code.
 
THParent said:
Coincidentally, the only legal application of the death penalty in Maryland is for treason. They will get at least 5 years, but probably more. I would surmise that they can be charged with Treason and Misprision of treason, but I'm not an attorney.
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Does the State of Maryland have jurisdiction in this case?

A1Janitor said:
Is it treason if sent to a friendly country? Or a country we aren’t at war with?
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THParent said:
Good point. It's not technically treason if they aren't helping an enemy of the State of Maryland (Maryland has a treason law on the books) or an enemy of The United States. They could be charged with a State crime or a Federal crime, or a mixture. I imagine. Again, I'm not an attorney!

Did they know or care to whom they were selling? Admittedly, I haven't read everything about this case. :confused:
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You could do yourselves a favor and read the Pollard case. Given that Israel, was/is the largest recipient of US foreign aid, that would probably qualify it as one notch below the 5 Eyes on the friendly meter. His wife was also complicit. There are many parallels.

According to Alan Dershowitz, a ferocious defender of Pollard, the Government held the threat of a charge of treason/espionage over his head with the possibility of the death penalty. As well, they threatened to seek a life sentence for his wife. For his cooperation, he received life and she a light prison sentence.

Side note: I'm all for maximum punishment for traitors, regardless of the beneficiary nation.
 
A1Janitor said:
Is it treason if sent to a friendly country? Or a country we aren’t at war with?
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I think I've read where the Roseburgs were convicted of Espionage vs Treason for that specific reason. We were not technically at war with the Soviet Union, and were actually allies during some of their actions.
 
Loss of bacon consumption privileges for life should surely be part of any table of punishments.

I am not making light of the situation, which really gets my blood boiling. This is just a nod to the bacon notes above.
 
I wonder if the couple contacted that particular non English speaking friendly country because that country had such a well known history of spying on the US

And the fact that they have subs
 
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