{"id":21808,"date":"2019-03-27T21:47:22","date_gmt":"2019-03-27T21:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2019\/03\/27\/ex-nsa-contractor-expected-to-plead-guilty-in-document-theft\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:39:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:39:33","slug":"ex-nsa-contractor-expected-to-plead-guilty-in-document-theft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/home\/2019\/03\/27\/ex-nsa-contractor-expected-to-plead-guilty-in-document-theft\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-NSA contractor expected to plead guilty in document theft case"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BALTIMORE \u2014 A former National Security Agency <\/a>contractor accused in a massive theft of classified information is expected to plead guilty Thursday in what U.S. prosecutors had once portrayed as a \u201cbreathtaking\u201d breach at the nation\u2019s biggest spy shop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prosecutors announced Wednesday that Harold T. Martin III would face rearraignment in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, a proceeding typically signaling a change of plea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The former U.S. Navy lieutenant was charged with the willful retention of national defense information and was arrested by the FBI in August 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of Martin’s lawyers, Deborah Boardman of the city’s federal public defender’s office, said a “rearraignment is a guilty plea” when asked for confirmation about her client’s Thursday hearing. She said they would issue a statement after Martin’s court appearance, declining to provide further comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An indictment accuses Martin, 54, who worked as a private contractor for the NSA and other government agencies, of stealing top secret and classified documents between 1996 and 2016 and stowing them in his car and Maryland home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stolen documents included sensitive NSA briefings and reports, including a 2009 draft of a signals intelligence directive that outlined methods and procedures for protecting the U.S. and a 2014 report containing information on foreign cyber intrusion techniques. He’s also accused of stealing a CIA document detailing foreign intelligence collection sources and methods, among other items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of his federal defenders has previously described Martin of Glen Burnie, Maryland, as a “compulsive hoarder” who never intended to harm his country and who took work documents home with him as he tried to be as committed to his job as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin, like famed NSA leaker Edward Snowden<\/a>, worked as a contractor for Booz Allen Hamilton<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked for comment about Martin’s upcoming hearing, James Fisher, a company spokesman, said Booz Allen Hamilton has “closely cooperated with the federal government throughout the case.”<\/p>\n\n\n\t