Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — A former consultant has been sentenced to 13 years for
trying to sell U.S. classified data to Israel.

Stewart Nozette, a former consultant for Israel Aerospace Industries,
was arrested in an FBI sting operation. Nozette, who is Jewish, later
admitted that he agreed to supply space data to FBI undercover
agents who posed as officers of Israel’s Mossad spy agency.

“I accept full responsibility,” Nozette told U.S. District Judge Paul
Friedman at the former’s sentencing on March 21.

The 54-year-old Nozette, who pleaded guilty to attempted espionage, was one of several American Jews targeted by FBI sting operations that sought to ferret out potential spies for Israel. Nozette and the prosecution agreed to a 13-year sentence, which included the two years he had been imprisoned since his arrest.

“Stewart Nozette’s greed exceeded his loyalty to our country,” U.S.
Attorney Ronald Machen said. “He wasted his talent and ruined his reputation by agreeing to sell national secrets to someone he believed was a foreign agent. His time in prison will provide him ample opportunity to reflect on his decision to betray the United States.”

Nozette spent decades at such government agencies as the Energy
Department and NASA. He was given high-level security clearance and gained
access to classified data on satellites and early-warning systems.

Under the plea bargain, Nozette, also investigated on charges of
tax evasion and fraud, admitted to intention to relay satellite and
intelligence data to Israel. He said he sought to charge Israel millions of
dollars for information from an unspecified classified U.S. program.

Prosecutors said Nozette sought to raise money to resolve his financial
problems and allegations of fraud. They said Nozette sent an e-mail as early
as 2002 that threatened to sell U.S. classified data to a foreign country.

About six years later, the FBI began to draft a sting operation to
determine whether Nozette was serious. In September 2009, Nozette was
contacted by an FBI agent who posed as a Mossad officer, and over the next
few weeks was said to have offered classified information for money and a
foreign passport to any country without an extradition treaty with the
United States.

“Nozette provided information classified as SECRET/SCI and TOP
SECRET/SCI that related to the national defense,” the Justice Department
said. “Some of this information directly concerned satellites, early warning
systems, means of defense or retaliation against large-scale attack,
communications intelligence information and major elements of
defense strategy.”

The defense asserted that the FBI exploited Nozette’s financial and
legal difficulties. Nozette’s attorneys said a raid of their client’s home
in 2007 uncovered documents and financial records that led to the sting
operation.

“This was functional entrapment,” defense attorney Bradford Berenson
said.

  American targeted by FBI sting gets 13 years for attempted espionage, Energy Department, FBI sting operation, Israel Aerospace Industries, Mossad, NASA, Stewart Nozette