The U.S. Justice Department
released the below information:
Terry J. Albury, a former
Special Agent of the FBI, pleaded guilty today in the District of Minnesota in
connection with his unauthorized disclosure and retention of classified
national defense information.
Assistant Attorney General
for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney Tracy Doherty-McCormick for
the Eastern District of Virginia, and Assistant Director Bill Priestap of the
FBI’s Counterintelligence Division announced the plea. The plea was entered before U.S. District
Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright.
“Today, Terry Albury admitted
to violating his oath to protect our country by disclosing to a reporter
classified information that, as an FBI agent, he was entrusted to protect,”
said Assistant Attorney General Demers.
“Albury admitted that his actions put America at risk. As this prosecution demonstrates, we will not
waver in our commitment to pursue and hold accountable government officials who
violate their obligations to protect our nation’s secrets and break the laws
they have sworn to uphold.”
“Terry Albury betrayed the
trust bestowed upon him by the United States,” said U.S. Attorney
Doherty-McCormick. “Today’s guilty plea
should serve as a reminder to those who are entrusted with classified information
that the Justice Department will hold them accountable.”
“Mr. Albury was entrusted by
the FBI with a security clearance, which included a responsibility to protect
classified national defense information. Instead, he knowingly disclosed that material
to someone not authorized to receive it,” said Assistant Director
Priestap. “The FBI will work tirelessly
to bring to justice those who would expose America’s secrets. Today, as the result of the hard work of
dedicated special agents, analysts, and prosecutors, Mr. Albury has taken
responsibility for his illegal action.”
“In violating his oath of
office Terry Albury not only betrayed the American people, but also his fellow
FBI employees who work to safeguard sensitive information on a daily basis,"
said Special Agent in Charge Laycock.
“No one is above the law and the FBI will continue to investigate
individuals who disclose classified material to those who are not authorized to
receive it.”
Albury, 39, worked as an FBI
Special Agent in the Minneapolis field office at the time of the
disclosures. At the time, Albury also
worked as a liaison with Customs and Border Protection at the Minneapolis-St.
Paul International Airport. In
connection with his FBI employment, Albury held a Top Secret//Sensitive
Compartmented Information security clearance, and his daily duties provided him
access to sensitive and classified FBI and other U.S. government
information. According to court
documents, beginning in 2016 and continuing through August 2017, Albury
knowingly and willfully disclosed national defense information, classified at
the Secret level, to a reporter. Albury
employed methods to avoid detection, including printing documents that he
created by cutting and pasting portions of an original document into a new
document so as to avoid leaving a record of having printed the original,
classified document. Albury also
accessed documents on a classified computer and took pictures of the computer
screen in order to photograph certain classified documents. Those additional classified documents were
recovered on an electronic storage device found during a search of his home.
As set forth in the plea
agreement, Albury was never authorized to retain the documents at issue at his
residence or to transmit them to any person not entitled to receive them. Albury knew that he was not authorized to
remove documents containing National Defense Information and classified
information from secure locations, and further knew that he was not authorized
to retain them at his residence or to transmit them to any person not
authorized to receive them.
Albury pleaded guilty to one
count of making an unauthorized disclosure of national defense information and
one count of unlawful retention of national defense information. Albury faces a maximum sentence of 10 years
in prison per count. The maximum
potential sentence is prescribed by Congress and are provided here for
informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be
determined by the assigned judge.
This investigation was
conducted by the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Danya E. Atiyeh
of the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorneys Patrick T. Murphy and
David C. Recker of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and
Export Control Section.
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