www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-te.espionage20oct20,0,1670843.story
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Spy probe nabs Md.
Researcher has worked at Goddard, elsewhere
Associated Press
October 20, 2009
A scientist who worked for the Defense Department, a White House space council and other agencies was arrested Monday on charges of passing along classified information to an FBI agent posing as an Israeli intelligence officer.
Stewart David Nozette, 52, of Chevy Chase was charged in a criminal complaint with attempting to communicate, deliver and transmit classified information, the Justice Department said. The complaint does not allege that the government of
Nozette was arrested by FBI agents. He is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court in
Nozette worked in varying jobs for the Energy Department, NASA and - in 1989 and 1990 - the National Space Council in the president's office. He developed the Clementine bi-static radar experiment that purportedly discovered water on the south pole of the moon. He worked at the Energy Department's
At Energy, Nozette held a special security clearance equivalent to the Defense Department's top secret and "critical nuclear weapon design information" clearances. DOE clearances apply to access to information specifically relating to atomic or nuclear-related materials.
Nozette also held top offices at the Alliance for Competitive Technology, a nonprofit corporation that he organized. Between January 2000 and February 2006, Nozette, through his company, had several agreements to develop advanced technology for the
An affidavit explains why FBI agents posed as agents of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.
From 1998 to 2008, the complaint alleges, Nozette was a technical adviser for a consultant company that was wholly owned by the Israeli government. Nozette was paid about $225,000 over that period, the court papers say.
Then, in January of this year, Nozette allegedly traveled to another country with two computer thumb drives and did not return with them. Prosecutors also quote an unnamed colleague of Nozette who said the scientist told him that if the U.S. government ever tried to put him in jail for an unrelated criminal offense, he would go to Israel or another country and "tell them everything" he knows.
In
The affidavit by FBI agent Leslie Martell said that on Sept. 3, Nozette received a telephone call from an individual purporting to be an Israeli intelligence officer. The caller was an undercover FBI agent.
Nozette agreed to meet with the agent later that day at a hotel in Washington and in the subsequent meeting the two discussed Nozette's willingness to work for Israeli intelligence, the affidavit said.
Nozette allegedly informed the agent that he had, in the past, held top security clearances and had access to U.S. satellite information, the affidavit said.
Nozette also allegedly said that he would be willing to answer questions about this information in exchange for money. The agent explained that the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, would arrange for a communication system so Nozette could pass on information in a post office box.
Nozette performed some of this research and development at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in Arlington, Va., and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt.
In 2006, NASA's Office of Inspector General subpoenaed a bank account of Nozette's firm, Alliance For Competitive Technology Inc. Nozette went to federal court to fight the subpoena.
The IG said it was investigating claims that Nozette's firm submitted false claims for expenses that were not actually incurred.
Copyright © 2009, The Baltimore Sun
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