Two Marines Charged in Secrets Theft

Associated Press

SAN DIEGO - Two Marine Corps reservists have been charged in connection with an alleged information theft ring that involved the compromise of classified files.

Gunnery Sgt. Eric L. Froboese and Master Sgt. Reinaldo Pagan were recalled to duty in June and charged a short time later as part of an investigation into the unauthorized sharing of secret Camp Pendleton files, Marine Corps spokesman Maj. Jason A. Johnston said Friday.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the men are accused of sharing the files with an anti-terrorism group of law-enforcement agencies in Los Angeles County.

Pagan was charged with dereliction of duty and orders violations. Froboese was charged with dereliction of duty, orders violations, conspiracy and wrongful transmission of classified information.

Johnston said the charges were made public Thursday. The two have been assigned to duty at Camp Pendleton pending adjudication of the case.

The Marine Corps said neither man would be made available for comment. Johnston said the two men have been assigned military defense attorneys but did not know their names.

The Union-Tribune first reported that a group of reservists was being investigated for breaching national security at Camp Pendleton.

In May, the newspaper reported that the alleged theft ring was particularly interested in FBI surveillance files on Muslim religious sites in Los Angeles, and that the Islamic Center of San Diego was monitored.

The charges against the two reservists follows testimony by Gunnery Sgt. Gary Maziarz, who said during a court-martial that he passed classified documents to several people, including a Los Angeles Police Department officer and a Los Angeles County sheriff's detective, according to published newspaper reports.

Maziarz, 37, said he acted out of patriotism. His testimony came in July 2007 during his court-martial on charges of theft and mishandling classified documents while he was a Marine intelligence analyst. He later pleaded guilty to mishandling more than 100 classified documents and passing them to at least four people.

Maziarz was sentenced to 26 months in exchange for information detailing the theft and hand-off of the top secret documents, and agreeing to testify against his alleged accomplices if they are charged. The plea deal bars Maziarz from talking with the media, the Union-Tribune reported.

Pagan and Froboese were not named in Maziarz's testimony.

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