NICEVILLE, Fla.—A local Air Force veteran has been arrested for allegedly disclosing sensitive information related to national defense, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida (USAO) has announced.
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According to the USAO, Paul J. Freeman, 68, of Niceville, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of unauthorized possession and transmission of classified national defense information.
Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the charges Thursday after Mr Freeman made his initial appearance in federal court in Pensacola.
As alleged in the indictment, Freeman transmitted classified national defense information about United States Air Force aircraft and weapons to people not authorized to access it on multiple occasions between November 2020 and March 2021.
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A detention hearing has been set for July 1, 2024, at 1 p.m., at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola before United States Magistrate Judge Zachary Bolitho.
If convicted, Mr Freeman faces up to a maximum of 10 years imprisonment on each of the nine counts in the indictment.
The United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are investigating the case.
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Assistant U.S. Attorney David L. Goldberg for the Northern District of Florida, Senior Trial Attorney Heather M. Schmidt, and Trial Attorney Yifei Zheng of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
