13 Years Jail for US War Scientist Spying for ’’Israel’’
The former US government space scientist Stewart Nozette was sentenced Wednesday to 13 years in prison after admitting he tried to sell US space and war secrets to "Israel".
Appearing in US federal court, Nozette said he "is paying for a fatal lack of judgment."
"I accept full responsibility," Nozette told US District Judge Paul Friedman.
The Jewish man had previously served as a technical consult in "Israel's" Aerospace Industries.
Prosecutors and Nozette's lawyers agreed to the 13-year sentence, with credit for the two years that Nozette has spent behind bars since his arrest.
Nozette also was ordered to pay $217,800 in restitution for fraudulent claims he made to the US Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in Arlington, Va., and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Nozette had high-level security clearances during decades of government work on science and space projects at NASA, the Energy Department and the National Space Council in President George HW Bush's administration.
The scientist admitted that "he tried to provide "Israel" with top secret information about satellites, early warning systems, methods for retaliating against large-scale attack, communications intelligence information and major elements of war strategy."
"Nozette, 54, was a traitor who engaged in attempted espionage with unbridled enthusiasm," Assistant US Attorney Anthony Asuncion told the judge.
He was known primarily as a war technologist who had worked on the Reagan-era missile war shield effort, nicknamed "Star Wars" and formally called the "Strategic Defense Initiative."
Source: YNet, Edited by moqawama.org
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