Culver City Man Indicted for Selling Military Secrets to Federal Agent Posing as Russian Spy

CULVER CITY, CA — A Culver City man was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury for allegedly selling military secrets to an undercover agent posing a Russian spy.

Gregory Allen Justice, 49, is due to be arraigned on July 27 on charges of violating the Arms Export Control Act. He 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.

The U.S. Attorney's Office did not disclose the name of the defense contractor, but Los Angeles Times identified it as El Segundo-based Boeing Satellite Systems, citing Justice's father.

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.

He told the undercover agent he needed money to pay for his wife's medical bills, according to the affidavit. Much of the money, however, was sent to a Long Beach woman the FBI only identified as "C.M."

“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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