Pedro Mascheroni, 79, was arrested after an FBI sting operation in which he offered to help a person he believed to be a Venezuelan intelligence officer develop a nuclear warhead.
This Oct. 22, 2009 file photo shows former Los Alamos National Laboratory nuclear physicist Pedro Leonardo Mascheroni on his back deck in Los Alamos, N.M.
AP Photo/Heather Clark, File
Pedro Leonardo Mascheroni, 79, pleaded guilty in 2013 for conspiring with a man he believed to be a Venezuelan intelligence officer. The man was actually an FBI agent, and authorities presented the court with video of the sting operation.
"That is a nuclear warhead," Mascheroni said in the video, a portion of which was published by ABC News. "I know how to design this."
Though he pleaded guilty, Mascheroni said in an interview with the Associated Press that the U.S. government unfairly targeted him as a spy. He began approaching other countries after the U.S. rejected his ideas for cleaner and more reliable nuclear weapons and power, he told the AP.
His wife, 71-year-old Marjorie Roxby Mascheroni, was sentenced to one year and a day in prison with three years supervised release for conspiring with her husband.
"Our laws are designed to prevent 'Restricted Data' from falling into the wrong hands because of the potential harm to our national security," U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez said in a statement. "Those who work at our country's national laboratories are charged with safeguarding that sensitive information, and we must and will vigorously prosecute anyone who compromises our nation's nuclear secrets for profit."
Pedro Mascheroni, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Argentina, worked for the national laboratory in New Mexico from 1979-1988, when he was terminated. His wife also worked there as a technical writer with a security clearance from 1981-2010.
According to a federal indictment, Mascheroni met with an FBI agent he believed to be working for the Venezuelan government at a Santa Fe hotel. Mascheroni said he could develop nuclear weapons for Venezuela, including a laser capable of blinding satellites.
He also said he could deliver a nuclear bomb within 10 years and described nuclear weapons as a way Venezuela could deter larger countries from engaging in conflict, the indictment said.
After a test of the weapons, Mascheroni said the country could cause an explosion over New York that would not kill anyone, but would destroy all electrical power, the indictment said. He later also said he expected salaries from a Venezuelan university, as well as the country's government, for his work, the indictment said.
In his guilty plea, he admitted to communicating restricted data with reason to believe it would provide an advantage to Venezuela. He also admitted to converting U.S. information to sell, as well as failing to deliver classified information about U.S national defense to authorities. He also admitted to making false statements to the FBI during their investigation.
In a press release, authorities made clear there was no actual attempt by Venezuela to gain U.S. classified information.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1JJ0TCW
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