Culver City Man Accused of Selling Military Secrets to Russian Government

Culver City, CA — A Culver City man was arrested Thursday for allegedly attempting to sell sensitive satellite information to a person he believed to be a Russian spy.

Gregory Allen Justice, 49, is due to be charged July 27 with violating the Arms Export Control Act. Justice was working for a defense contractor as an engineer on military and commercial satellites when he allegedly committed the crime, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Justice stole proprietary trade secret materials from his employer and provided them to a person whom he believed to be a representative of the Russian government, but who was, in fact, an FBI undercover agent.

In addition to their proprietary nature, the documents contained technical data covered by the U.S. Munitions List and therefore controlled for export from the United States under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, according to the criminal complaint filed July 1 in Los Angeles federal court.

In exchange for providing these materials, Justice allegedly sought and received cash payments.

“Mr. Justice allegedly placed his own interests of greed over our national security by providing information on sensitive U.S. technologies to a person whom he believed was a foreign agent,” Assistant Attorney General Carlin said. “In the wrong hands, this information could be used to harm the United States and its allies."

If convicted, Justice faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison for the economic espionage charge and a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for violating the Arms Export Control Act.

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