Post by Anja on Aug 14, 2006 3:52:34 GMT -5
Sailor charged with espionage won't face death penalty
A sailor who the Navy says deserted his submarine last year has been
charged with trying to pass secret documents contained in a stolen laptop
to an unspecified foreign government - more than one, possibly.
Fire Control Technician 3rd Class Ariel J. Weinmann, 21, of Salem, Ore.,
has been charged with 3 counts of espionage, desertion, larceny, failure
to obey a lawful order, copying classified information and destruction of
military property.
The Navy will not seek the death penalty, according to a Navy legal
official.
The Navy has not said which nation or nations are involved. A story in the
Aug. 9 issue of the Jerusalem Post, citing a Saudi newspaper account,
alleged that Israel is the country involved. A Navy official who asked not
to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the charges said Aug.
9 that the nation was "definitely not Israel."
Other press reports cited defense officials as saying the country is
Russia, but they could not be independently verified.
The case was heard July 26 in an Article 32 hearing by an investigating
officer who will prepare recommendations for Adm. John Nathman, the top
officer at the Norfolk, Va.-based Commander Fleet Forces Command and the
convening authority for the case. Nathman is expected to decide the week
of Aug. 14 which charges, if any, will be referred to a court-martial.
That hearing was not publicized or open to the press. But on Aug. 11, the
Navy played audio recordings of the hearing for members of the media.
Won't pursue death penalty
According to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, espionage is a capital
crime. But Capt. Max Jenkins, commanding officer, Region Legal Service
Office Mid-Atlantic, said Aug. 11 that the Navy would not pursue the death
penalty for Weinmann.
Weinmann, who joined the Navy in July 2003, was assigned to the attack
submarine Albuquerque in October 2004. The Navy says he deserted the sub,
then located at New London Submarine Base, Conn., in July 2005, and took
with him a government-owned laptop computer, according to the charge
sheets supplied by CFFC.
The Navy alleges that Weinmann tried to pass classified information to
representatives of a foreign government multiple times: in March 2005,
before he deserted, "at or near" Manama, Bahrain; in October, in Vienna,
Austria; and in March, in Mexico City.
The data - classified as "confidential" and "secret" - was apparently
stored in the laptop, although the Navy would not confirm that. But the
charges allege Weinmann illegally made an electronic copy of the
classified material, stored it in an unauthorized location and that in
March, he destroyed a government-owned laptop hard drive "by smashing it
with a mallet and cutting off the pins."
Weinmann was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on March 26. The Navy says that
when Weinmann was arrested, his backpack contained $4,000 in crisp, new
$100 bills, with consecutive serial numbers; a CD-ROM containing
classified "biographical" information; a small book containing some type
of classified info; and an undisclosed amount of currency from an unnamed
foreign nation.
A customs agent testified at the Article 32 hearing that Weinmann also was
carrying "several digital camera flash cards"; an external computer hard
drive; several pages of handwritten notes; a handwritten letter; and a
piece of paper with the names, birth dates and Social Security numbers of
2 people.
Weinmann was transported to Naval Station Norfolk after the arrest and has
been held in the brig most of the time since.
Weinmann is being represented by two uniformed Navy attorneys.
According to the Salem, Ore., Statesman Journal newspaper, Weinmann's
father, Rob Weinmann, told a local TV station that his son was "gung-ho"
about the Navy when he joined in 2003 but became disillusioned while
serving on the Albuquerque. He told the paper the family's only contact
with their son is through letters censored by the Navy.
"Every father says they know their son," Rob Weinmann told KGW-TV,
according to the newspaper. "I know how he was brought up. I know his
values. In a lot of ways he was very naive, gullible. I definitely don't
want him to be a scapegoat."
Weinmann had previously expressed an interest in Russia, according to his
hometown newspaper, the Statesman Journal. The paper wrote an April 2003
feature on his effort to collect hometown elementary school letters for
sailors on the now-defunct aircraft carrier Constellation during the
invasion of Iraq.
According to the paper, he said he was interested in foreign languages and
planned to study Russian and become a translator.
Several years earlier, during his sophomore year in high school, Weinmann
wrote to the paper's editor, voicing disdain for what he said was his
classmates' failure to show respect during the playing of the national
anthem.
"The United States of America is one of the only nations where that kind
of behavior is legal," he wrote. "If they don't like how the United States
treats them, they should go someplace where they can be happy. They
couldn't give 1 minute and 19 seconds to honor everything this country
stands for and all the men and women who have given their lives to protect
that.
"We are lucky," he added, "and it's time people realize this."
(source: Navy Times)
A sailor who the Navy says deserted his submarine last year has been
charged with trying to pass secret documents contained in a stolen laptop
to an unspecified foreign government - more than one, possibly.
Fire Control Technician 3rd Class Ariel J. Weinmann, 21, of Salem, Ore.,
has been charged with 3 counts of espionage, desertion, larceny, failure
to obey a lawful order, copying classified information and destruction of
military property.
The Navy will not seek the death penalty, according to a Navy legal
official.
The Navy has not said which nation or nations are involved. A story in the
Aug. 9 issue of the Jerusalem Post, citing a Saudi newspaper account,
alleged that Israel is the country involved. A Navy official who asked not
to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the charges said Aug.
9 that the nation was "definitely not Israel."
Other press reports cited defense officials as saying the country is
Russia, but they could not be independently verified.
The case was heard July 26 in an Article 32 hearing by an investigating
officer who will prepare recommendations for Adm. John Nathman, the top
officer at the Norfolk, Va.-based Commander Fleet Forces Command and the
convening authority for the case. Nathman is expected to decide the week
of Aug. 14 which charges, if any, will be referred to a court-martial.
That hearing was not publicized or open to the press. But on Aug. 11, the
Navy played audio recordings of the hearing for members of the media.
Won't pursue death penalty
According to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, espionage is a capital
crime. But Capt. Max Jenkins, commanding officer, Region Legal Service
Office Mid-Atlantic, said Aug. 11 that the Navy would not pursue the death
penalty for Weinmann.
Weinmann, who joined the Navy in July 2003, was assigned to the attack
submarine Albuquerque in October 2004. The Navy says he deserted the sub,
then located at New London Submarine Base, Conn., in July 2005, and took
with him a government-owned laptop computer, according to the charge
sheets supplied by CFFC.
The Navy alleges that Weinmann tried to pass classified information to
representatives of a foreign government multiple times: in March 2005,
before he deserted, "at or near" Manama, Bahrain; in October, in Vienna,
Austria; and in March, in Mexico City.
The data - classified as "confidential" and "secret" - was apparently
stored in the laptop, although the Navy would not confirm that. But the
charges allege Weinmann illegally made an electronic copy of the
classified material, stored it in an unauthorized location and that in
March, he destroyed a government-owned laptop hard drive "by smashing it
with a mallet and cutting off the pins."
Weinmann was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on March 26. The Navy says that
when Weinmann was arrested, his backpack contained $4,000 in crisp, new
$100 bills, with consecutive serial numbers; a CD-ROM containing
classified "biographical" information; a small book containing some type
of classified info; and an undisclosed amount of currency from an unnamed
foreign nation.
A customs agent testified at the Article 32 hearing that Weinmann also was
carrying "several digital camera flash cards"; an external computer hard
drive; several pages of handwritten notes; a handwritten letter; and a
piece of paper with the names, birth dates and Social Security numbers of
2 people.
Weinmann was transported to Naval Station Norfolk after the arrest and has
been held in the brig most of the time since.
Weinmann is being represented by two uniformed Navy attorneys.
According to the Salem, Ore., Statesman Journal newspaper, Weinmann's
father, Rob Weinmann, told a local TV station that his son was "gung-ho"
about the Navy when he joined in 2003 but became disillusioned while
serving on the Albuquerque. He told the paper the family's only contact
with their son is through letters censored by the Navy.
"Every father says they know their son," Rob Weinmann told KGW-TV,
according to the newspaper. "I know how he was brought up. I know his
values. In a lot of ways he was very naive, gullible. I definitely don't
want him to be a scapegoat."
Weinmann had previously expressed an interest in Russia, according to his
hometown newspaper, the Statesman Journal. The paper wrote an April 2003
feature on his effort to collect hometown elementary school letters for
sailors on the now-defunct aircraft carrier Constellation during the
invasion of Iraq.
According to the paper, he said he was interested in foreign languages and
planned to study Russian and become a translator.
Several years earlier, during his sophomore year in high school, Weinmann
wrote to the paper's editor, voicing disdain for what he said was his
classmates' failure to show respect during the playing of the national
anthem.
"The United States of America is one of the only nations where that kind
of behavior is legal," he wrote. "If they don't like how the United States
treats them, they should go someplace where they can be happy. They
couldn't give 1 minute and 19 seconds to honor everything this country
stands for and all the men and women who have given their lives to protect
that.
"We are lucky," he added, "and it's time people realize this."
(source: Navy Times)