The Justice Department outlines details of the probe, says it will likely charge Harold Martin with additional crimes.
A former National Security Agency contractor amassed at least 500 million pages of government records, including top-secret information about military operations, by stealing documents bit by bit over two decades, the Justice Department alleged in a court filing submitted Thursday.
Prosecutors in August arrested and charged Harold “Hal” Martin III, of Glen Burnie, Md., with theft of government property and unauthorized removal or retention of classified documents. The case was kept under seal until earlier this month, when some details became public.
The new filing said the Justice Department would likely charge Mr. Martin with additional crimes, including violating the Espionage Act, an offense that carries much stiffer penalties than the current charges.
Mr. Martin’s attorney, Jim Wyda, declined to comment on the new filing. In the past, he has said that Mr. Martin is a patriotic American who has served his country.
A federal court has scheduled a hearing for Friday to consider whether Mr. Martin should be released while awaiting trial. The Justice Department released its 12-page document ahead of that hearing, detailing new allegations about the scope of Mr. Martin’s alleged theft and suggesting he had become heavily armed, accumulating 10 weapons, and had taken sophisticated steps to cover his tracks.
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