Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones, 61, is charged with five counts of unlawfully transmitting and one count of unlawfully retaining classified national defense information. Perez-Lugones was previously charged by criminal complaint with retention of national defense information.
Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the indictment with Attorney General Pamela Bondi; FBI Director Kash Patel; and Assistant Director in Charge Darren B. Cox, FBI – Washington Field Office.
Between October 2025 and January 2026, Perez-Lugones repeatedly accessed classified reports, printed or otherwise copied the information in these classified reports, and removed the printouts and information from the sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) where he worked. He then transmitted the classified national defense information to a reporter (Reporter 1), who is not authorized to receive it.
In turn, Reporter 1 co-authored and contributed to at least five articles that contained classified information Perez-Lugones provided, resulting in the dissemination of the information to the public. On October 31, 2025, November 11, 2025, December 8, 2025, January 6, 2026, and January 9, 2026, Reporter 1 co-authored articles containing classified information from these reports.
“Illegally disclosing classified defense information is a grave crime against America that puts both our national security and the lives of our military heroes at risk,” Bondi said. “This Department of Justice will remain ever-vigilant in protecting the integrity of America’s classified intelligence.”
“Perez-Lugones allegedly printed and removed classified documents from his workplace on multiple occasions, took them home, and later passed them to a reporter who used the information in news articles,” Patel said. “Protecting our country’s secrets is essential to the safety of our most sensitive intelligence, military, and law enforcement operations. The FBI will continue to aggressively investigate everyone who seeks to undermine our national security and hold them accountable.”
“The indictment charges that Perez-Lugones willfully transmitted national defense information to a news reporter, placing our national security at risk,” Hayes said. “Protecting sensitive national security information is a core responsibility of the Department of Justice, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners will pursue accountability when that trust is violated. Putting it simply, risking our national security cannot and will not be tolerated.”
“Today’s indictment sends a clear message to all clearance holders that the FBI and our partners will spare no resource to immediately identify and hold accountable those who violate the law by disclosing classified information without authorization,” Cox said. “This alleged brazen betrayal posed the threat of exceptionally grave damage to national security, including endangering our warfighters and ongoing military operations.”
On January 8, 2026, a federal court authorized search warrants for Perez-Lugones’s Laurel residence and vehicle, along with other locations. During the search, investigators uncovered multiple documents marked as “SECRET.”
They also found a lunch box in his car containing a document marked as “SECRET.” Additionally, while searching Perez-Lugones’s residence, investigators located a document in the basement of the residence also marked as “SECRET.” One or more of these documents are related to national defense.
On several occasions, since at least October 2025, Perez-Lugones navigated and searched databases or repositories containing classified information without authorization, including classified intelligence reports or summaries. Specifically, Perez-Lugones accessed classified intelligence reports, some of which are related to a foreign country, and classified as Top Secret. He took screenshots of the reports and pasted them in Microsoft Word documents and other applications to obscure his unauthorized review and access of this information.
Then on January 8, authorities observed Perez-Lugones looking at national defense information and printing it in his cubicle at his workplace. Agents later found that Perez-Lugones removed his name from headers on documents prior to leaving his workplace.
According to the indictment, the search also revealed that on January 8, Perez-Lugones transmitted photographs of classified documents. Perez-Lugones then wrote to Reporter 1, “I’m going quiet for a bit . . . just to see if anyone starts asking questions,” via an encrypted messaging application.
Since 2002, Perez-Lugones worked as a government contractor in various capacities. Perez-Lugones was working as a systems engineer and information technology specialist for a government contracting company. He possesses a Top-Secret security clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information as long as it is essential for performing his job. The Government entrusted Perez-Lugones with access to classified and national defense information since he held a security clearance as a member of the U.S. Navy and as a government contractor.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. Individuals charged by indictment are presumed innocent until proven guilty at a later criminal proceeding.
If convicted, Perez-Lugones faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for each count of retention and transmission of national defense information. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge determines sentencing after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the FBI Washington Field Office for its work in the investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patricia McLane and Thomas Sullivan, along with Trial Attorneys Menno Goedman and Brendan Geary, National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, who are prosecuting the case.
