HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WRIC/THE HILL) — A Navy sailor has been charged with espionage for allegedly giving classified information to a foreign government in the past two years, including while he was in Hampton Roads.
In January, the Navy hit Chief Petty Officer Bryce Pedicini, a fire controlman, with eight espionage-related charges for allegedly providing documents to an employee of a foreign government between November 2022 and May 2023, according to The Hill.
Pedicini was assigned to the guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins and “is suspected of mishandling classified documents and information,” Naval Surface Force spokesperson Commander Arlo Abrahamson confirmed in a statement. “The incident remains under investigation, and legal proceedings continue.”
The Navy claims Pedicini gave the foreign employee documents and information related to “national defense” at least seven times over seven months in Hampton Roads, Virginia, and in Yokosuka, Japan, where the Higgins is based, according to The Hill.
It is not publicly known which government Pedicini allegedly provided documents to or the type of information they contained, but the charge sheet said the material held information that “would be used to the injury of the United States and to the advantage of a foreign nation.”
Pedicini is also accused of failing to report a foreign contact, failing to report the solicitation of classified information by an authorized person, wrongfully taking a personal electronic device into a secure room and attempting to smuggle photos of a secret-level computer screen to a foreign government employee, among other charges.
Pedicini, who joined the Navy in 2008 and served aboard multiple ships, has been under pretrial confinement since May, according to The Hill. He is scheduled to face a court martial this week.
According to The Hill, Pedicini is the third sailor in the past year who is facing espionage-related charges.
The Hill contributed to this report.
