Leatrice Malika DeBruhl-Daniels, Corruption, Texas 2024

HOUSTON, Texas – Leatrice Malika DeBruhl-Daniels, a 48-year-old former special agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), has been convicted of corruption in connection to an illicit relationship with a Syrian businessman.

A federal jury deliberated for less than three hours before convicting DeBruhl-Daniels following a six-day trial.

The relationship with Nadal Diya, a 49-year-old Syrian businessman living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, began in 2017. Diya was the target of several federal investigations at the time.

DeBruhl-Daniels used her position to get benefits from Diya in exchange for providing information to him about his visa status. The gifts included an expensive birthday party at Diya’s home, approximately $1,400 in cash, and the promise of a job for her son in Diya’s company.

The relationship with Diya eventually became sexual. During that relationship, she revealed he was a target of an FBI counterterrorism investigation, information that was classified at the time. She also told him that if he came to the United States, he would likely be arrested.

DeBruhl-Daniels failed to disclose her intimate relationship with Diya, the gifts he had given her, the job he offered her son, and the classified information she provided during a federal interview in late December 2017. She also coached Diya on what to say in a subsequent interview.

Several months later, DeBruhl-Daniels left Dubai for Hawaii for a highly sensitive and coveted job. However, she soon learned she would not get the new position. It was only then she confessed to superiors and investigators about her illicit relationship, the monies, party, and gifts she had received and the classified information she had previously revealed.

DeBruhl-Daniels testified in her own defense at trial. She claimed, among other things, that the classified information she revealed to Diya was public information. She further attempted to convince the jury she did not have a duty to reveal any of the details of her personal relationship with Diya nor her disclosures to him.

The jury did not believe her claims and found her guilty. DeBruhl-Daniels faces 20 years in prison for each of the four obstruction counts. She also faces five years in prison for each of six false statement counts of conviction, eight years for a false statement with terrorism enhancement, and two years for the bribery conviction. She was remanded to custody pending sentencing on August 15.

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