A former physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratories was sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to communicating classified nuclear weapons data to a person he believed to be an agent of the Venezuelan government.
Pedro Mascheroni, 79, was indicted in 2010 on charges of conspiracy to communicate and communicating restricted data to an individual with the intent to secure an advantage for a foreign nation. He was also charged with conspiracy to convey and conveying classified information; concealing and retaining U.S. records with the intent of converting them to his own use and gain; and making false statements.
He pleaded guilty in 2013 to charges of conversion of government property, retention of records and making false statements and was sentenced Wednesday to 60 months in prison and three years of supervised released.
Mascheroni admitted to selling restricted data to someone he thought was a Venezuelan official in November 2008 and July 2009 with the understanding that that information would be used to create an advantage for a foreign government.
He also admitted to keeping classified national defense information in his home and lying to FBI investigators when questioned in October 2009.
His wife, Marjorie Roxby Mascheroni, 71, who worked at Los Alamos Labs from 1981 to 2010, was convicted in August of conspiracy and making false statements. She was sentenced to a year and a day in prison and three years of supervised release.
"Those who work at our country's national laboratories are charged with safeguarding that sensitive information and we must and will vigorously prosecute anyone who compromises our nation's nuclear secrets for profit," said U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez. "I also thank the Los Alamos National Laboratory for cooperating fully in the investigation and prosecution of this case."
FBI investigators noted the indictment did not allege any wrongdoing by Los Alamos Labs or any action or interest on behalf of the Venezuelan government.
"America trusts those who work with our country's classified information to keep it away from those who would harm us," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Carol Lee. "Anyone who betrays that trust for his own gain puts our nation's security up for auction and the price for us all could be very high indeed."
Aaron Boyd is an awarding-winning journalist currently serving as editor of Federal Times — a Washington, D.C. institution covering federal workforce and contracting for more than 50 years — and Fifth Domain — a news and information hub focused on cybersecurity and cyberwar from a civilian, military and international perspective.
