Weldon Marshall, a 43-year-old former defense contractor from the Sherman area, has admitted to hoarding classified U.S. military secrets for over a decade — including sensitive nuclear command data — while serving in the Navy and later working on U.S. military bases overseas.
Marshall, who held a top secret security clearance since 2003 and a secret clearance since 2002, pleaded guilty in federal court today to one count of unlawfully retaining national defense information. The charges stem from his deliberate retention of highly classified material, including a compact disc labeled “My Secret TACAMO Stuff,” which contained details on U.S. nuclear command, control and communications systems.
During his Navy service from January 1999 to January 2004, Marshall downloaded classified documents and stored them on the CD, which he later kept in a house he owned in Liverpool, Texas — a clear violation of federal security protocols. The data included secret-level information never meant for personal possession.
After leaving the Navy, Marshall continued working for companies contracted by the U.S. Department of Defense, providing IT services on military bases in Afghanistan. While stationed there, he shipped hard drives back to his Liverpool residence containing classified documents on ground operations in the war zone — again, bypassing all chain-of-custody and security procedures.
U.S. District Judge George Hanks accepted the guilty plea and scheduled sentencing for May 21, 2018. Marshall faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a maximum $250,000 fine. He was released on bond pending sentencing, drawing criticism from national security watchdogs.
The investigation was led by the Army’s 902d Military Intelligence Group and the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Leuchtmann and Alamdar Hamdani, along with Trial Attorney Matthew Walczewski from the Justice Department’s National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
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Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Cybercrime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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