An employee of a Department of Defense intelligence agency has been accused of 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 used his top-secret clearance to gain access to a computer program he was not cleared to view, charging documents filed in Alexandria’s federal court said. Court records did not list an attorney for Montgomery.
Based in Bethesda, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, originally called the National Imagery and Mapping 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.
Calls to NGA representatives were not returned Sunday.
According to court documents, Montgomery accessed the program April 9 and April 14. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies were monitoring the program as part of a terrorism investigation. When Montgomery accessed the program without prior approval, those agencies were alerted and an investigation began.
Defense Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent Dexter C. Wells wrote in a sworn statement that before Montgomery opened the program, a warning notice popped up informing him only authorized members of the investigation were permitted to access it.
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 documents did not say why Montgomery was interested in the program.
He has been charged with intentionally accessing a classified computer system and obtaining classified information without authorization.
