NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A U.S. Navy sailor stationed in Portsmouth pleaded guilty to giving out secret government information to a Russian national.
Charles T. Briggs pleaded guilty to unauthorized distribution of classified information from a government computer and three counts of making false official statements in a court martial this week.
Briggs was sentenced to 31 months in prison on the charges and had his rank reduced from Chief Petty Officer to E-4.
Prosecutors say Briggs used a government computer to acquire the data that could “injure the United States or benefit a foreign national” while stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska in 2019. He later was stationed at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth.
Other charges Briggs faced at the trial were withdrawn,
