FBI News:HOUSTON, Texas ― A 43-year-old man residing in the Sherman area has entered a plea of guilty to one count of unlawfully retaining national defense information, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick and Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers.
From the early 2000s, Weldon Marshall unlawfully retained classified items while he served in the U.S. Navy and while working for a military contractor.
Marshall served in the U.S. Navy from approximately January 1999 to January 2004, during which time he had access to highly sensitive classified material, including documents describing U.S. nuclear command, control and communications. Those classified documents, including other highly sensitive documents classified at the secret level, were downloaded onto a compact disc labeled “My Secret TACAMO Stuff.” He later unlawfully stored the compact disc in a house he owned in Liverpool.
After he left the Navy, Marshall worked for various companies that had contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense. He worked for such a contractor until his arrest in January 2017. While employed with these companies, Marshall provided information technology services on military bases in Afghanistan, where he also had access to classified material.
During his employment overseas, and particularly while he was located in Afghanistan, Marshall shipped hard drives to his Liverpool home. The hard drives contained documents and writings classified at the secret level about ground operations in Afghanistan.
Marshall has held a top secret security clearance since approximately 2003 and a secret security clearance since approximately 2002.
U.S. District Judge George Hanks accepted Marshall’s plea today and set sentencing for May 21, 2018. At that time, he faces up to 10 years imprisonment and a maximum $250,000 fine. He was permitted to remain on bond pending that hearing.
The Army’s 902d Military Intelligence Group and the FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Leuchtmann and Alamdar Hamdani are prosecuting the case along with Trial Attorney Matthew Walczewski of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
