US Navy Chief Petty Officer Sentenced to 18 Years for Attempted Espionage

A US chief petty officer from Japan, earlier assigned to USS Higgins, has received an 18-year sentence in military prison on being convicted of attempted espionage, per the Naval Criminal Investigative Service’s declaration on Thursday.

A military judge gave Bryce Pedicini an 18-year sentence after a general court-martial, in which Pedicini was convicted on the grounds of attempted espionage, failure to abide by a general order and the subsequent attempt to violate a general order. The judge reduced the rank to E-1 and also issued a dishonourable discharge.

Pedicini further offered classified and national defence information to a representative of another government, which wasn’t identified in the NCIS report. Per the release, NCIS arrested Pedicini on May 19, last year, following a stringent investigation regarding his attempted espionage, which started in November 2022.

The investigation served as part of ongoing measures the NCIS took to prevent the exploitation of US Navy personnel by foreign adversaries, mentions the release. An appellate review will be taking a look at the judge’s dismissal of a charge revolving around the communication of defence information. However, according to the Navy, the review is unlikely to impact the sentence. Pedicini’s sentence commences after the review.

Reference: usni

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