Harold Thomas Martin III, 51, of Glen Burnie
U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Harold Thomas Martin, III, age 54, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, to nine years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for willful retention of national defense information.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers; and Special Agent in Charge Jennifer C. Boone of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.
“For nearly 20 years, Harold Martin betrayed the trust placed in him by stealing and retaining a vast quantity of highly classified national defense information entrusted to him,” stated U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur. “This sentence, which is one of the longest ever imposed in this type of case, should serve as a warning that we will find and prosecute government employees and contractors who flagrantly violate their duty to protect classified materials.”
“Harold Martin was entrusted with some of the nation’s most sensitive information,” said Assistant Attorney General Demers. “Instead of respecting the trust given to him by the American people, Martin violated that trust and put our nation’s security at risk. This sentence will hold Mr. Martin accountable for his dangerous and unlawful actions.”
“Harold Martin took an oath to preserve and protect the nation’s secrets, and violated that oath repeatedly over many years, causing damage with his unlawful mishandling of classified information,” said Special Agent in Charge Jennifer C. Boone, FBI Baltimore Field Office. “Martin’s actions harmed Intelligence Community sources and methods. The vitality and integrity of the Intelligence Community require the strictest adherence to the law for handling classified information. The FBI will be tireless in investigating cases like the Martin case.”
Martin admitted that beginning in the late 1990s and continuing through August 31, 2016, he stole and retained U.S. government property from secure locations and computer systems, including documents in both hard copy and digital form relating to the national defense, that bore markings indicating that they were the property of the United States and contained highly classified information of the United States, including Top Secret/SCI information.
As detailed in his plea agreement, Martin retained the stolen documents and other classified information at his residence and in his vehicle. Martin knew that the hard copy and digital documents stolen from his workplace contained classified information that related to the national defense and that he was never authorized to retain these documents at his residence or in his vehicle. Martin admitted that he also knew that the unauthorized removal of these materials risked their disclosure, which would be damaging to the national security of the United States and highly useful to its adversaries.
In court documents and at today’s sentencing hearing, the government noted that crimes such as Martin’s not only create a risk of unauthorized disclosure of, or access to, highly classified information, but often require the government to treat the stolen material as compromised, resulting in the government having to take remedial actions including changing or abandoning national security programs. In addition, Martin’s criminal conduct caused the government to expend substantial investigative and analytical resources. The diversion of those resources resulted in significant costs.
United States Attorney Robert K. Hur and Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers commended the FBI for its work in the investigation and thanked the National Security Agency for its assistance. Mr. Hur and Mr. Demers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zachary A. Myers and Harvey E. Eisenberg, and Trial Attorney David Aaron of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, who prosecuted the case.
10/06/16: A criminal complaint has been filed charging Harold Thomas Martin III, 51, of Glen Burnie, with theft of government property and unauthorized removal and retention of classified materials by a government employee or contractor.
Martin was employed by Booz Allen Hamilton, the same firm where NSA leaker Edward Snowden was a contractor when he took a huge cache of classified documents and fled the United States in 2013.
The criminal complaint said that among the classified material found in Martin’s home and car, six documents were obtained from sensitive intelligence and appear to date to 2014 — six months after the NSA was rocked by Snowden’s leaks.
“These documents were produced through sensitive government sources, methods and capabilities, which are critical to a wide variety of national security issues,” the complaint said. “The disclosure of the documents would reveal those sensitive sources, methods, and capabilities.”
Martin submitted to an interview after the materials were seized — at first, denying he took the documents and files and later admitting it when confronted with specific documents, the complaint said.
“Martin states that he knew what he had done was wrong and that he should not have done it because he knew it was unauthorized,” the complaint said.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein for the District of Maryland and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office made the announcement Wednesday, October 5, 2016.
According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Martin was a contractor with the federal government and had a top-secret national security clearance. Martin was arrested late on Aug. 27, 2016. The complaint was filed on Aug. 29, 2016, and unsealed today.
On Aug. 27, 2016, search warrants were executed at Martin’s residence in Glen Burnie, including two storage sheds, as well as upon his vehicle and person. During the execution of the warrants, investigators located hard-copy documents and digital information stored on various devices and removable digital media. A large percentage of the materials recovered from Martin’s residence and vehicle bore markings indicating that they were the property of the U.S. government and contained highly classified information, including Top Secret and Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI). In addition, investigators located the property of the U.S. government with an aggregate value in excess of $1,000, which Martin allegedly stole.
The complaint alleges that among the classified documents found in the search were six classified documents obtained from sensitive intelligence and produced by a government agency in 2014. These documents were produced through sensitive government sources, methods and capabilities, which are critical to a wide variety of national security issues. The disclosure of the documents would reveal those sensitive sources, methods, and capabilities.
The documents have been reviewed by a person designated as an original classification authority, and in each instance, the authority has determined that the documents are currently and properly classified as Top Secret, meaning that unauthorized disclosure reasonably could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security of the U.S.
If convicted, Martin faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison for the unauthorized removal and retention of classified materials and ten years in prison for theft of government property. An initial appearance was held for Martin in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on Aug. 29, 2016. Martin remains detained.
A criminal complaint is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by criminal complaint is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
Assistant Attorney General Carlin and U.S. Attorney Rosenstein commended the FBI for its work in the investigation and thanked the Maryland State Police for its assistance. Mr. Rosenstein and Mr. Carlin thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zachary A. Myers and Harvey E. Eisenberg, and Trial Attorney David Aaron of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, who are prosecuting the case.
Harold Thomas Martin III, 51, of Glen Burnie
