A military court convicted a Navy sailor based in Japan on Friday for attempted espionage.
Chief Petty Officer Bryce Pedicini, a fire controlman, was charged with eight espionage-related counts in February for allegedly providing documents to an employee of a foreign government between November 2022 and May 2023.
After a seven-day trial, he was found guilty of attempted espionage, failure to obey a lawful order, and attempted violation of a lawful general order, according to a statement from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS).
“This guilty verdict holds Mr. Pedicini to account for his betrayal of his country and fellow service members,” NCIS Director Omar Lopez said in a statement. “Adversaries of the United States are unrelenting in their attempts to degrade our military superiority.”
“Nevertheless, the American public should be confident knowing that NCIS will also not relent in our mission to deter, disrupt, and defeat the ongoing threat from foreign intelligence entities. Although the overwhelming majority of Department of the Navy service members are honorable and faithful public servants, NCIS stands ready to expose those who are not,” Lopez said.
NCIS said that its investigation revealed Pedicini delivered classified and national defense information to an employee of a foreign government starting in November 2022. The service said Pedicini “had reason to believe it would be harmful to the United States or advantageous to the foreign nation.”
It’s not clear what foreign nation NCIS said he was engaging with.
The service said Pedicini, formerly assigned to the USS Higgins, operated “under the guise of writing research papers” to deliver the information.
NCIS detained him on May 19, 2023. His sentencing from a military judge will be on May 7.
The Hill has reached out to the Navy’s Judge Advocate General for comment from Pedicini’s attorney.
