Army translator sentenced to 10 years

[maddezmom]

Source: UPI

WASHINGTON, May 19 (UPI) -- A U.S. Army translator has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for unauthorized possession of classified defense documents, the Justice Department said Monday.

The sentence also covers the contract translator's using a false identity to get his U.S. citizenship and gain access to classified military material, the Justice Department said in a news release. In addition, the court stripped the defendant of his U.S. citizenship because of his conviction for unlawfully getting his citizenship.

The defendant -- who goes by various names including Abdulhakeem Nour, Abu Hakim, Noureddine Malki, Almaliki Nour and Almalik Nour Eddin -- pleaded guilty in February 2007 to unauthorized possession of classified documents. He pleaded guilty to false identity in December 2005.

The defendant used a false identity in gaining a position as an Arabic translator for the L-3 Titan Corp., which provides translation services in Iraq for U.S. military personnel, the department said. He used the ID to get "Secret" and then "Top Secret" security clearances, and then removed classified documents from the U.S. Army without authorization.


Read more: http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/05/19/army_translator_sentenced_to_10_years/1181/

[truthisfreedom]

1. Jeepers!

Only 10 years?

[Cronus Protagonist]

2. Thank God he wasn't gay!

That would have been a firing offense and we might never have known about his spying.

[ellenfl]

3. holy crap. yeah, we need more private contractors. NOT! eom

[bean fidhleir]

4. Corporations seem to be able to hand out TS clearances like candy, these days

If he could get a TS clearance without having a verifiable identity and history, things have sure gone downhill. A TS clearance used to require an FBI background check.

[wmbrew0206]

5. It still requires a DSS background check, but they are human.

The FBI doesn't have the manpower to do it anymore, so the DSS was created to do the background checks.

When I was getting my TS clearance, I listed a friend from college who's family was from Mexico, but he had grown up in the states and had no accent what so ever. He was interviewed by DSS to verify I lived where I said I did.

He told me two years later he was getting his citizenship and I was floored. I thought he was a citizen and apparently the DSS did too because they never asked him about his citizenship.