A former Pentagon contractor who worked on U.S. missile systems is facing criminal charges for allegedly sharing classified documents in a revenge plot against his employer—after losing his security clearance for smoking legally prescribed pot.
James Robert Schweitzer, a 58-year-old software engineer, has been charged with malicious mischief and destruction of government property after he allegedly began leaking classified “national defense information” in 2016 regarding U.S. missile sensors.
Over a two-year period, authorities allege, Schweitzer sent the classified information to news outlets and even revealed to police his “dark fantasy” was to commit mass murder. Prosecutors say he admitted to the FBI that he knew some of the “critical military information” he exposed “could result in American casualties abroad or in the United States,” and threatened to escalate his activities if he didn’t get what he wanted.
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