An employee for Raytheon, a federal defense contractor, has been sentenced to more than a year in prison for taking home classified information without authorization.
Ahmed Serageldin, an employee who worked on a radar system used to detect ballistic missiles, pleaded guilty to taking home classified national defense documents in a manner that “endangered national security.” Serageldin was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison on Thursday.
“I was sloppy, but I have always been loyal to my job and to the country,” Serageldin told the judge before being sentenced.
Assistant United States Attorney Scott Garland said Serageldin took home more than 3,100 digital documents and 100 hard copies, with at least 500 of the documents labeled as classified.
“Defendant deserves this serious sentence because he deliberately endangered national security, at the very least, by keeping national defense information where it was viewable and available to others,” Garland told the judge.
Prosecutors asked for a five-year sentence for Serageldin, but Judge Patti Saris noted that there was no evidence that any of the information Serageldin took home was sent to foreign powers.
“He’s not a trader or a spy. He basically misused classified information in his home,” Saris said.
President Trump commented on Serageldin’s sentencing on Twitter, where he shared a post from Buck Sexton that said: “This guy is getting sent to prison for mishandling classified information. He didn’t transmit or share it with anyone. Hillary Clinton committed EXACTLY THE SAME OFFENSE and wasn’t even charged for it. We were told it was not a crime.”
“John Bolton is, with the exception of Hillary, by far the worst offender of them all!” Trump added, referring to his former national security adviser.
John Bolton is, with the exception of Hillary, by far the worst offender of them all! https://t.co/dYk0dsxkG5
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2020
