Defense Contractor Tried to Give Classified Information to Russia, U.S. Says

A erstwhile defence contractor from South Dakota was arrested connected Wednesday nighttime connected espionage-related charges aft an undercover F.B.I. cognition successful which helium tried to supply classified nationalist defence accusation to idiosyncratic helium believed to beryllium a Russian agent, national prosecutors said.

According to a transgression complaint, the man, John Murray Rowe Jr., 63, of Lead, S.D., told idiosyncratic posing arsenic a Russian cause that Moscow was “the spot to be.”

Mr. Rowe was charged with attempting to pass nationalist defence accusation to assistance a overseas government, the Department of Justice said successful a statement connected Thursday. He is acceptable to marque his archetypal tribunal quality connected Friday successful United States District Court successful Rapid City, S.D. If convicted, Mr. Rowe could look a maximum condemnation of beingness successful prison.

Mr. Rowe worked for respective defence contractors arsenic a trial technologist for astir 40 years, according to the transgression complaint. His occupation allowed him to person aggregate nationalist information clearances, ranging from “secret” to “top secret,” and his enactment included matters relating to the U.S. Air Force’s aerospace technology, the Justice Department said.

After Mr. Rowe committed respective information violations and revealed an involvement successful Russian affairs, helium was identified successful April 2017 arsenic a imaginable insider threat, and his declaration with a defence contractor ended successful August 2017, according to the complaint.

The pursuing month, Mr. Rowe began moving for a antithetic defence contractor, which gave him a “secret” nationalist information clearance, according to the complaint.

On Feb. 20, 2018, 1 of Mr. Rowe’s colleagues saw him transportation a thumb thrust into a classified area, according to the complaint, and erstwhile questioned by the colleague, Mr. Rowe said helium was trying to instal bundle from the thrust onto a machine successful the classified area.

About a week later, Mr. Rowe asked an accusation information serviceman if it was imaginable to simultaneously clasp U.S. and Russian information clearances, according to the complaint. Mr. Rowe was told holding some clearances was not allowed, and helium was fired from his occupation the pursuing period for information violations, according to tribunal documents.

It was unclear connected Thursday whether Mr. Rowe had a lawyer. Mr. Rowe did not instantly respond to requests for remark by telephone and email connected Thursday night.

Based connected his actions, the Federal Bureau of Investigation opened an undercover cognition to spot if Mr. Rowe was consenting to stock his cognition of classified accusation with a overseas government.

In March 2020, Mr. Rowe met with an undercover F.B.I. worker who was posing arsenic a Russian authorities agent, according to the complaint. After that meeting, Mr. Rowe exchanged much than 300 emails with different undercover F.B.I. worker posing arsenic a Russian agent, the ailment said.

The coronavirus “is going beryllium astir for a precise agelong clip and politically thing other is going to happen,” Mr. Rowe said successful an email to the undercover F.B.I. worker connected April, 30, 2020. “Everyone present is talking astir a caller satellite bid and I judge this truthful overmuch that I adjacent been asking my granddaughters to larn the Russian language.”

In the aforesaid email, Mr. Rowe said helium was funny successful a instrumentality President Vladimir Putin of Russia had signed that would let foreigners to go Russian citizens without giving up their citizenship successful their location countries.

“This is important to maine due to the fact that I tin unrecorded connected my Social Security that I received present portion surviving successful Moscow,” Mr. Rowe said. “I been seeing however overmuch it outgo to unrecorded determination and that the spot to be. Once this question prohibition is over, I’m going to beryllium heading to Moscow.”

In different email, according to the Justice Department statement, Mr. Rowe “disclosed nationalist defence accusation classified arsenic SECRET that acrophobic circumstantial operating details of the physics countermeasure systems utilized by U.S. subject combatant jets.”

On July 31, 2020, Mr. Rowe expressed concerns successful an email astir being detected by the U.S. government, saying helium had to beryllium cautious whom helium talked to.

“Get maine successful stink cognition with the FBI, talking successful a edifice country astir commercialized secrets,” helium wrote, seemingly referring to a sting operation. “Those radical are existent ungraded bags.”

Finally, successful an email to the undercover F.B.I. worker connected Nov. 11, 2020, Mr. Rowe said helium had recovered immoderate classified documents to stock with the expected Russian agent.