WASHINGTON (AFP) - A leading US scientist who had worked at the White House and NASA could face execution for offering to sell secrets to Israel for two million dollars, according to documents filed in federal court.Stewart David Nozette, 52, is set to appear in court Thursday for a hearing on whether he should remain in detention after he was arrested in a sting operation involving an FBI agent posing as an Israeli official.
Nozette, arrested October 18, is charged with two counts of attempted espionage for allegedly trying to sell secrets to Israel, according to court documents filed late Wednesday. Based on the indictment allegations, "the maximum penalty the defendant faces, if convicted, is death," said the government filing supporting Nozette's continued detention pending trial.
In Nozette's talks with the alleged Israeli agent, the scientist said he wanted "roughly two million dollars as compensation for his espionage."
Nozette "delivered and communicated this classified information to an individual he believed was an Israeli intelligence officer in exchange for an alias, a foreign passport, and cash payments," and therefore should remain in detention, the court documents said.
In their final discussion, the undercover FBI agent handed Nozette 10,000 dollars in one hundred dollar bills, which he tried to hide inside a hotel bathroom toilet tank when federal agents arrested him.
The FBI also searched Nozette's safe deposit box at San Diego, California bank. He earlier told the undercover agent that he had opened safe deposit boxes "out of state" to hide valuable information in case US authorities searched his home in the suburbs of Washington.
"In the box, agents discovered (among other things) three computer drives, eight videotapes, fifty-five gold 'Krugerrand' coins worth roughly 50,000 dollars, and 30,000 dollars in savings bonds," read the document, suggesting Nozette would use the funds in case he had to flee.
The investigation appears to have been sparked by his consulting work with an Israeli company along with comments he made to a colleague.
A prominent scientist credited with helping discover water on the moon, Nozette had worked at the US space agency NASA, the Energy Department, and even served on the White House's National Space Council in 1989 and 1990, under then-president George H.W. Bush.
Between November 1998 and January 2008 Nozette also did monthly consulting work for an Israeli government-owned aerospace company. He was paid a total of 225,000 dollars for giving the company technical data and advice, according to the indictment.
On January 30 Nozette pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion charges, and agreed to pay more than 265,000 dollars restitution to the government.
He earlier told a colleague "that if the government attempted to imprison him for fraud and tax evasion charges, he would flee the United States and disclose classified information to a foreign government," the document said.
Nozette "was plotting his departure from the United States long before he was charged with attempted espionage," it said.
For more information about this news: http://www.ciacademy.com/spycase/NOZETTE_Stewart_David.html
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