Former Defense Contractor Sentenced for Unlawfully Retaining Classified Information

Weldon Marshall, 43, of Sherman, Texas, was sentenced today to 41 months in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release, for unlawfully retaining national defense information. Marshall pleaded guilty on March 5. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers and U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick of the Southern District of Texas made the announcement, after sentencing by U.S. District Judge George Hanks. In handing down the sentence, the court noted how Marshall violated an important trust the military had placed in him. From the early 2000s, Marshall unlawfully retained classified items he obtained while serving in the U.S. Navy and while working for a military contractor. Marshall served in the U.S. Navy from approximately January 1999 to January 2004, during which time he had access to highly sensitive classified material, including documents describing U.S. nuclear command, control and communications. Those classified documents, including other highly sensitive documents classified at the Secret level, were downloaded onto a compact disc labeled “My Secret TACAMO Stuff.” He later unlawfully stored the compact disc in a house he owned in Liverpool, Texas. After he left the Navy, until his arrest in January 2017, Marshall worked for various companies that had contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense. While employed with these companies, Marshall provided information technology services on military bases in Afghanistan where he also had access to classified material. During his employment overseas, and particularly while he was located in Afghanistan, Marshall shipped hard drives to his Liverpool home. The hard drives contained documents and writings classified at the Secret level about flight and ground operations in Afghanistan. Marshall has held a Top Secret security clearance since approximately 2003 and a Secret security clearance since approximately 2002. Previously released on bond, Marshall was taken into custody following the sentencing today where he will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future. The Army’s 902d Military Intelligence Group and the FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Alamdar Hamdani and former AUSA Andrew Leuchtmann of the Southern District of Texas prosecuted the case, along with Trial Attorney Matthew Walczewski of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.