Salem Sailor Will Face Espionage and Desertion Charges in Upcoming Court-Martial

Ariel J. Weinmann of Salem, Oregon

(NORFOLK, Va.) - The arraignment for a Salem, Oregon Navy sailor accused of stealing a government laptop computer full of classified information and selling the contents to a foreign government was set for Wednesday, according to sources with the U.S. Navy.

The foreign nation that Petty Officer 3rd Class Ariel J. Weinmann is accused of selling the documents to has not yet been disclosed.

The Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press has criticized the Norfolk Naval Station for their refusal to release information about the case of Ariel J. Weinmann, who has been detained for well over four months since his arrest for the espionage charges.

"The Navy did not allow public access to Weinmann's pre-trial hearing, called an Article 32 hearing, and refused to reveal details of the charges against him until after the hearing was held."

Weinmann was not expected to enter a plea at today's hearing, but a formal reading of the charges was planned, and they include three counts of espionage.

The case generated a flurry here on Salem-News.com over references that Weinmann may have been spying for Israel.

According to an article published in the Saudi daily Al-Watan, Weinmann, is suspected of spying for Israel. No more evidence of that has been brought forward though, and the suggestion seemed to sit poorly with many.

Al-Watan speculated that if Weinmann spied on behalf of the Mossad, it would be the biggest espionage case since Jonathan Pollard's arrest in 1985 for spying for Israel.

According to the navy, Weinmann was apprehended on March 26 "after it was learned that he had been listed as a deserter by his command," with Al-Watan reporting that he was returning from an undisclosed "foreign country"-most likely, Israel.

Ted Brown, a media relations officer at the US Fleet Forces Command, told the Jerusalem Post, "The US Navy concluded Article 32 proceedings [a pretrial investigation] in the case of Fire Control Technician Third Class Ariel J. Weinmann on July 26, 2006."

Weinmann, who worked as a fire control technician aboard the USS Albuquerque at New London, Connecticut, could receive a life sentence if convicted. The Navy says Weinmann provided the unnamed foreign government classified information that related to national defense, then destroyed the computer. The Navy said Weinmann was arrested in the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on March 26 after federal agents found the 21-year-old with $4,000 (€3,122) cash, three CD-ROMs, an external computer storage device and memory cards for storing digital images. The Navy also says that when they located Weinmann, he carried a note with the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of two people, and a notebook with handwritten contents that aroused suspicion, though they failed to elaborate. The Associated Press reports that Weinmann visited Bahrain in March 2005 in an "attempt to communicate, deliver or transmit" the classified information to "a representative, officer, agent or employee of a foreign government." Months later, the Navy said, Weinmann deserted his submarine for more than eight months to travel to Austria and Mexico to "communicate, deliver or transmit" the information to a foreign government. Another charge facing Weinmann relates to his alleged failure to properly safeguard and store classified information, for copying classified information, and communicating classified information to a person not entitled to receive it. He will also be charged for stealing and destroying a government computer. In a recent statement, one of Weinmann's naval attorneys, Lt. Cmdr. Karen Somers, says their team acknowledges the charges and said she and her co-counsel were preparing for trial.

Other articles on Weinmann that have appeared on Salem-News.com...

Navy: Oregon Sailor Passed National Defense Information to Foreign Government Officials in Austria And Mexico salem-news.com/articles/august182006/sailor_charges_81806.php

Salem Sailor Jailed on Charges of Spying salem-news.com/articles/august092006/weinmann_arrest_81006.php