GLEN BURNIE, MD — A former government contractor has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for willful retention of national defense information after he harbored a massive amount of highly classified documents at his home, two storage sheds and in his vehicle.

U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Harold Thomas Martin, III, age 54, of Glen Burnie, on July 19. After serving nine years in federal prison, Martin will have three years of supervised release. Patch previously reported that Martin is a Navy veteran. "Harold Martin was entrusted with some of the nation's most sensitive information," said U.S. Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers in a statement. "Instead of respecting the trust given to him by the American people, Martin violated that trust and put our nation's security at risk. This sentence will hold Mr. Martin accountable for his dangerous and unlawful actions."

U.S. Special Agent in Charge Jennifer C. Boone of the FBI Baltimore field office explained that Martin "took an oath to preserve and protect the nation's secrets and violated that oath repeatedly over many years, causing damage with his unlawful mishandling of classified information." "Martin's actions harmed Intelligence Community sources and methods. The vitality and integrity of the Intelligence Community requires the strictest adherence to the law for handling classified information," Boone said in a statement.

Patch previously reported that Martin admitted to knowing the documents could be stolen if he had risked taking them, and that there would be damage to national security. While Martin stole the information, his lawyer argues, he never meant to hurt the United States. "There is "no evidence Hal Martin intended to betray his country," said his attorney Jim Wyda

before the trial. "What we do know is that Hal Martin loves his family and his country. He served our nation honorably in the United States Navy, and he has devoted his entire career to serving and protecting America. We look forward to defending Hal Martin in court."

According to his plea agreement, from December 1993 through Aug. 27, 2016, Martin was employed by at least seven different private companies and assigned as a contractor to work at a number of government agencies. Martin was required to receive and maintain a security clearance in order to work at each of the government agencies to which he was assigned. Martin held security clearances up to top secret and sensitive compartmented information (SCI) at various times.

Because of his work responsibilities and security clearance, Martin was able to access government computer systems, programs and information in secure locations, including classified national defense information. Martin admitted that beginning in the late 1990s and continuing through Aug. 31, 2016, he stole and retained U.S. government property from secure locations and computer systems, including documents in both hard copy and digital form relating to the national defense, that bore markings indicating that they were the property of the United States and contained highly classified information of the United States, including top secret/SCI information.

