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LOS ANGELES
A Marina del Rey man was sentenced today to more than three years in prison for providing sensitive information about a network used to control and communicate with military satellites to an individual he believed was a foreign intelligence officer working for the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Brian Scott Orr, 42, was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison by United States District Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell. In addition to the prison term, Judge O’Connell ordered Orr to pay a fine of $10,000, and to serve a three-year term of supervised release after he completes the prison term.
Orr pleaded guilty on March 17 to retention of stolen government property, a crime he committed after being arrested by the FBI and charged last November.
Orr is a former civilian employee who worked for the United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in Rome, New York, from 2009 through 2011. While employed there, Orr maintained a Top Secret security clearance and was assigned to work on sensitive and classified matters related to the Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN), a computer network used to control military satellites.
While working in this capacity, Orr obtained various materials used to train personnel on how to operate the computer network. Orr resigned from the Air Force Research Laboratory in 2011 after his access to classified and other sensitive areas had been withdrawn, but he unlawfully retained the restricted materials he had obtained. The materials were labeled with warnings restricting their export from the United States.
From September 2013 until November 2013, Orr met with an individual whom he believed to be a representative of a Chinese intelligence service, but who was in reality an undercover FBI agent (UCA). Orr met with the UCA multiple times and provided a two thumb drives that contained sensitive military technical data he had obtained during his employment at the Air Force Research Laboratory.
Orr told the UCA he was the “foremost expert on attacking the computer network.” During the course of his communications with the UCA, Orr stated that he could destroy or disrupt U.S. military satellites on behalf of the PRC government, the entity he believed the UCA was working for, according to the plea agreement.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI).
RELATED: Chinese National Sentenced for Smuggling US Defense Articles
Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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