© Larry Downing/Reuters
NSA Complex
A former employee for the NSA who worked to infiltrate foreign computer networks has admitted to illegally taking classified documents from the agency. Among the details of the case shrouded in mystery is the date he was charged.
Former National Security Agency employee Nghia H. Pho, 67, of Maryland, pleaded guilty in US District Court for the District of Maryland to one count of willful retention of national defense information, according to charges unsealed on Friday through a
US Department of Justice statement.
Although Pho's offense carries a possible 10-year sentence, prosecutors in the case agreed not to seek more than eight years. Pho remains free while he awaits sentencing, which has been scheduled by US District Judge George L. Russell for April 6, 2018. Pho's attorney, Robert C. Bonsib, will also be free to inquire about a more lenient sentence for his client, the
New York Times reported.
Pho, born in Vietnam, later became a naturalized American citizen, and
had previously worked as a software developer for the NSA. The exact date that Pho was charged in this case has not been confirmed, however, leading up to when his charges were unsealed.
Although prosecutors working on Pho's case previously withheld many details related to his government work, in Friday's DOJ statement, prosecutors disclosed that
he had worked for the NSA's "Tailored Access Operations" (TAO) unit, which focuses on infiltrating foreign computer networks, from 2006 to 2016.
Comment: The girl who cried wolf! It's looking more like these are false allegations of sexual assault in order to be released scot-free. But in this supposed 'rape culture' that we're living in, with disturbed people like Brenda Barattini, how many other sexual assault allegations are sparked from relatively benign encounters?