Navy submariner will plead guilty in espionage case

By TIM MCGLONE
The Virginian-Pilot
Dec. 01, 2006

NORFOLK - A Navy submariner accused of espionage and desertion has agreed to plead guilty next Monday before a military judge, forgoing a trial.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Ariel J. Weinmann was scheduled for a court-martial next week but will instead plead guilty in a Norfolk Naval Station court to some of the six charges against him, Weinmann's civilian attorney said Monday.

"Pre trial negotiations have been going on and have been met with some success," said the attorney, Phillip Stackhouse of Jacksonville, N.C.

"A pre trial agreement has been signed."

Stackhouse declined to say which charges his client plans to plead guilty to. Stackhouse said the plea agreement between Weinmann and the Navy includes a maximum possible sentence but, again, declined to provide specifics.

Navy Mid-Atlantic Region spokeswoman Beth Baker would not comment on the development.

Weinmann, 21, of Salem, Ore., has been in the Norfolk Naval Station brig since his arrest in March. He is charged with espionage, desertion, failing to properly secure classified information, copying classified information, communication of classified information to a foreign agent, and stealing and destroying a laptop computer.

The Navy at one point had considered the death penalty against Weinmann but rejected it for undisclosed reasons. The maximum punishment for espionage under military code is life in prison.

Weinmann, a fire control technician who had been stationed aboard the Connecticut-based submarine Albuquerque, was arrested March 26 at a Dallas airport as he was re-entering the country from Mexico.

Navy officials have said in court that Weinmann was carrying $4,000 in cash, three CD-ROMs and other computer equipment. He left his post in July 2005 - while his sub was stationed in Bahrain - and is accused of taking a Navy laptop with him.

The charges allege that Weinmann passed classified information to a foreign government representative in Vienna, Austria, and Mexico City. The Navy has not disclosed what information was passed, nor has the foreign government officially been named.

News agencies, including CNN, have named Russia as the foreign government, but Time magazine, citing anonymous military sources, reported in August that the Navy had not confirmed Russia as having received anything from Weinmann.

Efforts to reach Weinmann's family in Oregon were unsuccessful Monday.