Man Arrested for Stealing Military Documents

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78)
(Norfolk, Virginia)

A 35-year-old Navy engineer from Yorktown was arrested Friday on charges of attempting to steal schematics of the Navy’s newest nuclear aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and pass the schematics to whom he believed was an Egyptian government official, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Mostafa Ahmed Awwad is charged with two counts of attempted exportation of defense articles and technical data, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count if convicted.

According to an FBI affidavit submitted to the court in support of search warrants, Awwad began working for the Department of Navy in February 2014 as a civilian general engineer in the Nuclear Engineering and Planning Department at Norfolk Naval Shipyard.

Apparently, Awwad was stealing classified secrets over several months. He claimed he was doing it for the Egyptian government.