NORFOLK NAVAL STATION, Va. — The Navy has charged a sailor who allegedly deserted his submarine last year with trying to pass secret documents contained in a stolen laptop to an unspecified foreign government — possibly more than one.
Fire Control Technician 3rd Class Ariel J. Weinmann, 21, has been charged with three counts of espionage, as well as desertion, larceny, failure to obey a lawful order, copying classified information and destruction of military property. The Navy has not said which nation or nations are involved. A story in Wednesday’s Jerusalem Post alleged that one of the countries involved is Israel. A Navy official, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the charges, said Wednesday that it is “definitely not Israel.”
The case was heard July 26 in an Article 32 hearing by an investigating officer who will prepare recommendations for Adm. John Nathman, commander of Norfolk, Va.-based Fleet Forces Command, the convening authority for the case. Nathman will decide which charges, if any, will be referred to court-martial.
That hearing was not publicized or open to the press.
If tried and convicted of espionage, Weinmann could be executed, according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Weinmann, who joined the Navy in July 2003, was assigned in October 2004 to the attack submarine Albuquerque, then located at New London Submarine Base, Conn.. The Navy says he deserted the sub in July 2005, taking a government-owned laptop computer that apparently contained data classified as “confidential” and “secret,” according to the charge sheets supplied by Fleet Forces Command.
The Navy alleges that Weinmann tried to pass the classified information to representatives of a foreign government multiple times: in March 2005, before he allegedly deserted, “at or near” Manama, Bahrain; in October 2005 in Vienna, Austria; and this past March in Mexico City.
Weinmann was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on March 26. He’s been held in the Norfolk Naval Station brig ever since.
Navy
08-09-2006, 14:56
Sailor charged with espionage 
The Navy has not said which nation or nations are involved. A story in Wednesday’s Jerusalem Post alleged that one of the countries involved is Israel. A Navy official, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the charges, said Wednesday that it is “definitely not Israel.”
