A Department of Defense intelligence analyst has pleaded guilty to compromising a computer program that was being used in a joint FBI-U.S. Army terrorist investigation while working at Fort Belvoir.
Brian Keith Montgomery was an analyst for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency when he disregarded a warning message and opened a program that could have “jeopardized an ongoing investigation,” he admitted.
The Bethesda-based National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency was created in 1996 to better provide the intelligence community with mapping information. In 1999, the highly secretive agency was blamed for providing incorrect maps to NATO war planners that critics said led to the accidental bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia. The CIA, however, played down the importance of maps in such operations and promoted the need for better databases.
An NGA spokesman declined to comment.
Montgomery was originally charged with a felony, but his plea deal lowered that charge to a misdemeanor, which means he will likely face a period of probation and no jail time.
Montgomery accessed the program April 9 and April 14, he admitted. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies were monitoring the program as part of a terrorism investigation, court documents said. When Montgomery accessed the program without prior approval, those agencies were alerted and an investigation began.
Before he opened the program, a warning notice popped up informing him only authorized members of the investigation were permitted to access it, a Department of Defense Investigative Service agent wrote in a sworn statement.
When investigators first questioned Montgomery, he reportedly said, “It was not until I was called on the carpet, that I went back and read the warning notice in the message traffic,” Wells wrote.
But about a week later, Montgomery was questioned again and, according to Wells, admitted to accessing the program without authorization, and he “recognized his actions could cause problems for the federal investigation.”
Montgomery then explained that “he was very interested in the information within the program and acknowledged that it was not related to the performance of his duties.”
Court records do not indicate when Montgomery will be sentenced.
