Ariel Weinmann
Encyclopedia
Petty Officer Ariel Weinmann, formerly a Fire Control Technician 3rd Class
, now a Seaman Recruit
with the United States Navy
pled guilty on 4 December 2006 to espionage, desertion and other charges. His case is notable as an espionage
case where the Navy and trial court officials have denied access to basic information, including the court docket. Weinmann was arrested on March 26, 2006 at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
while traveling from Mexico City, Mexico en-route to Vancouver, British Columbia.
Weinmann of Salem, Oregon
enlisted in the Navy on July 1, 2003. He deserted on July 1, 2005 while his submarine was in port in Groton, Connecticut
and on March 19, 2005, in or near Manama
, Bahrain
, "attempted to communicate, deliver or transmit" classified information relating to national defense to "a representative, officer, or employee of a foreign government." Months later Weinmann "communicated, delivered or transmitted" information classified as confidential and secret to a representative of a foreign government in Vienna
, Austria
, around October 19, 2005, and around March 19, 2006 near Mexico City
, Mexico
.
Weinmann deserted exactly 2 years from the date he enlisted. The three specifications of espionage he was charged with also occurred like clockwork, i.e. March 19, 2005, March 19, 2006 and October 19, 2006.
At the time he deserted he was assigned to the USS Albuquerque (SSN-706)
, a Los Angeles-class
attack submarine
.
Petty Officer Ariel Weinmann's case is the only known espionage case where the United States Government has refused to release the identity of the state the accused is convicted of spying for. This is normally the first fact that is released to the public.
Espionage is defined by the military as providing classified information to a foreign country. There have been conflicting reports about which countries he is accused of spying for. During the trial the foreign country was referred to as Country X and has never been identified, due to security concerns. At the time of the trial there was some speculation that the country in question was Russia. The Jerusalem Post reported a story previously run by a Saudi
newspaper that identified the foreign country in question as Israel, but later reported a claim by the U.S. Navy as denying any link to Israel.
A docket listing Weinmann’s preliminary hearing, (Article 32) was never produced nor would the Navy confirm when the hearing was held. Officials have refused to produce a charge sheet which would detail the accusations against the sailor. Theodore Brown a spokesman for Fleet Forces Command
stated that Weinmann is charged with failure to obey orders and acts prejudicial to good order and discipline in addition to espionage and desertion.
In military courts, an order must be issued closing or sealing a case. Brown acknowledged that “there is no order,” but said that the charge sheet in the Weinmann case would not be released.
In December 2006 Weinmann was sentenced by a military court-martial at Norfolk Naval Station to 12 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge for desertion and turning over classified information to a foreign agent.
Judge Capt. Daniel O'Toole handed down a 25-year term, but was forced by a plea agreement to suspend 13 years. With time already served, Weinmann will be eligible for parole in 2009-2010. Weinmann was represented by attorneys Phillip Stackhouse
, Lt. Cmdr. Karen Somers and Lt. William Tansey. The Navy removed Lt. Tansey from the defense after Mr. Stackhouse was brought on board.
Weinmann pleaded guilty to espionage, desertion and related charges. Before a plea deal, the maximum penalty was life in prison without parole.
At his court martial Weinmann read a prepared statement admitting that he obtained classified data, including biographies of Austrian government employees and technical manuals on the Tomahawk cruise missile, while serving aboard the Albuquerque in 2005. He fled to Vienna, Austria, and hoped the Austrian government would be interested in the dossiers being collected by U.S. intelligence agencies. He contemplated trading the dossiers for asylum but abandoned that plan and instead turned over Tomahawk manuals to a foreign agent at a Vienna embassy. Weinmann said he had hoped to exchange the information for a new life in another country. This "Statement of fact" failed to address the espionage charges for Manama, Bahrain and Mexico City. Charges that were not dropped by the prosecution, but merely uncontested.
As previously noted, Judge Capt. Daniel O'Toole handed down a 25-year term, but was forced by a plea agreement to suspend 13 years. The Navy has never released the details of this agreement and Petty Officer Weinmann has continued to maintained his silence regarding this subject. Factual information available surrounding Weinmann's activities during this period is very limited.
His record shows Weinmann was selected to graduate two weeks early from Submarine School to join the USS Albuquerque (SSN-706)
on a 6 month deployment to Europe
and The Persian Gulf. At the time of his court martial it was established he has spoken proficient German since prior to enlisting in the Navy. It has recently been revealed that the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive (ONCIX) places Weinmann's Intelligence Quotient (IQ)at somewhere around 150 (more than 3 standard deviations).
Petty Officer Third Class
U.S. NavyGood conductvariationU.S. NavyPetty officerthird classinsigniaPetty officer third class is the fourth enlisted rank in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, just above seaman and below petty officer second class, and is the lowest rank of non-commissioned officer, equivalent to a corporal in...
, now a Seaman Recruit
Seaman Recruit
Seaman recruit is the lowest enlisted rank in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, just below seaman apprentice; this rank was formerly known as seaman third class...
with the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
pled guilty on 4 December 2006 to espionage, desertion and other charges. His case is notable as an espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
case where the Navy and trial court officials have denied access to basic information, including the court docket. Weinmann was arrested on March 26, 2006 at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is located between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, and is the busiest airport in the U.S. state of Texas...
while traveling from Mexico City, Mexico en-route to Vancouver, British Columbia.
Weinmann of Salem, Oregon
Salem, Oregon
Salem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood...
enlisted in the Navy on July 1, 2003. He deserted on July 1, 2005 while his submarine was in port in Groton, Connecticut
Groton, Connecticut
Groton is a town located on the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 39,907 at the 2000 census....
and on March 19, 2005, in or near Manama
Manama
Manama is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 155,000 people.Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is home to a very diverse population...
, Bahrain
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
, "attempted to communicate, deliver or transmit" classified information relating to national defense to "a representative, officer, or employee of a foreign government." Months later Weinmann "communicated, delivered or transmitted" information classified as confidential and secret to a representative of a foreign government in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, around October 19, 2005, and around March 19, 2006 near Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
Weinmann deserted exactly 2 years from the date he enlisted. The three specifications of espionage he was charged with also occurred like clockwork, i.e. March 19, 2005, March 19, 2006 and October 19, 2006.
At the time he deserted he was assigned to the USS Albuquerque (SSN-706)
USS Albuquerque (SSN-706)
USS Albuquerque , a Los Angeles-class attack submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Albuquerque, New Mexico. The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 31 October 1973 and her keel...
, a Los Angeles-class
Los Angeles class submarine
The Los Angeles class, sometimes called the LA class or the 688 class, is a class of nuclear-powered fast attack submarines that forms the backbone of the United States submarine fleet. With 43 submarines on active duty and 19 retired, the Los Angeles class is the most numerous nuclear powered...
attack submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
.
Petty Officer Ariel Weinmann's case is the only known espionage case where the United States Government has refused to release the identity of the state the accused is convicted of spying for. This is normally the first fact that is released to the public.
Espionage is defined by the military as providing classified information to a foreign country. There have been conflicting reports about which countries he is accused of spying for. During the trial the foreign country was referred to as Country X and has never been identified, due to security concerns. At the time of the trial there was some speculation that the country in question was Russia. The Jerusalem Post reported a story previously run by a Saudi
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
newspaper that identified the foreign country in question as Israel, but later reported a claim by the U.S. Navy as denying any link to Israel.
Court proceedings
When his arrest was made public it was claimed he had been held in secret for four months.A docket listing Weinmann’s preliminary hearing, (Article 32) was never produced nor would the Navy confirm when the hearing was held. Officials have refused to produce a charge sheet which would detail the accusations against the sailor. Theodore Brown a spokesman for Fleet Forces Command
U.S. Atlantic Fleet
The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...
stated that Weinmann is charged with failure to obey orders and acts prejudicial to good order and discipline in addition to espionage and desertion.
In military courts, an order must be issued closing or sealing a case. Brown acknowledged that “there is no order,” but said that the charge sheet in the Weinmann case would not be released.
In December 2006 Weinmann was sentenced by a military court-martial at Norfolk Naval Station to 12 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge for desertion and turning over classified information to a foreign agent.
Judge Capt. Daniel O'Toole handed down a 25-year term, but was forced by a plea agreement to suspend 13 years. With time already served, Weinmann will be eligible for parole in 2009-2010. Weinmann was represented by attorneys Phillip Stackhouse
Phillip Stackhouse
Phillip Stackhouse is an attorney who predominantly represents military men and women. He is a retired Marine who served as both an enlisted Marine and infantry Officer...
, Lt. Cmdr. Karen Somers and Lt. William Tansey. The Navy removed Lt. Tansey from the defense after Mr. Stackhouse was brought on board.
Weinmann pleaded guilty to espionage, desertion and related charges. Before a plea deal, the maximum penalty was life in prison without parole.
At his court martial Weinmann read a prepared statement admitting that he obtained classified data, including biographies of Austrian government employees and technical manuals on the Tomahawk cruise missile, while serving aboard the Albuquerque in 2005. He fled to Vienna, Austria, and hoped the Austrian government would be interested in the dossiers being collected by U.S. intelligence agencies. He contemplated trading the dossiers for asylum but abandoned that plan and instead turned over Tomahawk manuals to a foreign agent at a Vienna embassy. Weinmann said he had hoped to exchange the information for a new life in another country. This "Statement of fact" failed to address the espionage charges for Manama, Bahrain and Mexico City. Charges that were not dropped by the prosecution, but merely uncontested.
As previously noted, Judge Capt. Daniel O'Toole handed down a 25-year term, but was forced by a plea agreement to suspend 13 years. The Navy has never released the details of this agreement and Petty Officer Weinmann has continued to maintained his silence regarding this subject. Factual information available surrounding Weinmann's activities during this period is very limited.
His record shows Weinmann was selected to graduate two weeks early from Submarine School to join the USS Albuquerque (SSN-706)
USS Albuquerque (SSN-706)
USS Albuquerque , a Los Angeles-class attack submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Albuquerque, New Mexico. The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 31 October 1973 and her keel...
on a 6 month deployment to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and The Persian Gulf. At the time of his court martial it was established he has spoken proficient German since prior to enlisting in the Navy. It has recently been revealed that the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive (ONCIX) places Weinmann's Intelligence Quotient (IQ)at somewhere around 150 (more than 3 standard deviations).