Aiexpress – A U.S. Navy chief petty officer stationed in Japan has been accused of committing espionage and sharing classified material with a member of a foreign government. The charges were revealed in a charge sheet obtained by USNI News.
Chief Petty Officer Fire Controlman Bryce Pedicini, who served on the USS Higgins (DDG-76), has been named in the charge sheet.
Pedicini faced a long list of 19 infractions in the charging sheet. These included not reporting a foreign contact and soliciting unauthorized materials from a member of a foreign government.
According to the charge sheet, Pedicini is accused of delivering documents related to national defense on multiple occasions to a contact in Hampton Roads, Virginia, from November 2022 to February 2023.
In May 2023, during his time in Yokosuka, Japan, Pedicini is said to have violated regulations by bringing a personal electronic device into a restricted area and accessing classified information on an unauthorized system. According to a report by USNI News, he also took photographs of confidential material displayed on a computer screen.
Pedicini was taken into custody in May 2023, as stated in the charge sheet, and has been held in pre-trial confinement ever since.
According to the U.S. Navy trial docket, he was scheduled to go to trial today in San Diego.
