Justice explained to his “handler” that his motivation for his activities was to pay his wife’s medical bills (and indeed, our investigation revealed that his wife was suffering from a variety of medical issues and he had told her she had to cancel some of her appointments). But our investigation also revealed that the $3,500 Justice received—plus approximately $20,000 of his own money—went toward gifts of cash and merchandise for an online girlfriend he had never met in person.

In talking to the undercover employee, Justice—who had a fascination with spy novels, movies, and television programs—fancied himself a man of espionage and intrigue and wanted to forge a close relationship with his handler. He paid more than $4,000 for online courses like “Spy Escape and Evasion,” “Legally Concealed,” and “Fight Fast.” Justice even offered to give the undercover employee a tour of his work facility and recommended that the handler wear special glasses equipped with a hidden camera to covertly take pictures.

Justice had taken all the required security training sessions from his employer so he understood what he was doing was wrong. But from his conversations with the FBI’s undercover employee, it was also clear that he knew the value of the information he was passing along: At one point, he suggested that some of the digital documents he provided could be used to intercept communications, or even substitute communications. Justice also understood that the ultimate destination of the files he was handing over was Moscow.

A special thanks goes to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California for its assistance during the case. Also playing a role in this matter was Justice’s employer—a cleared government contractor that already had a relationship with the FBI through its Counterintelligence Strategic Partnership Program.

As a result of the overwhelming evidence collected against him by the Bureau during the course of its investigation, in May of 2017, Gregory Allen Justice pleaded guilty to attempting to commit economic espionage, attempting to violate the Arms Export Control Act, and violating the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Last September, he was sentenced to five years in federal prison.

Justice, it could be said, was definitely served in this case.