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Fifth Column
Oregon sailor sentenced to 12 years in prison for espionage
2006-12-08
A military judge Wednesday sentenced Petty Officer 3rd Class Ariel J. Weinmann to 12 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge for desertion and turning over classified information to a foreign agent, The Virginian-Pilot is reporting this morning.

Capt. Daniel O'Toole handed down a 25-year term, but was forced by a plea agreement to suspend 13 years. With time already served, Weinmann will be eligible for parole in less than four years.
Beats hanging, which would have been my first choice for him.
"This is a very patriotic kid and a very patriotic family," Weinmann's civilian attorney, Phillip Stackhouse, told O'Toole. "You have to ask yourself, 'How did this happen?' "

During Wednesday's sentencing hearing, said his fiancee had left him and he had grown disillusioned with the Navy after two years of service, he said. "I just would like to apologize to everyone involved in this, especially my parents and my sister," he said. "I apologize to everybody."
Posted by:Anonymoose

#19  "Stackhouse said that Weinmann was "upset, not mad," at the sentence, which also included demotion to the lowest enlisted rank and forfeiture of all pay."



Posted by: crazyhorse   2006-12-08 21:24  

#18  Punishment Court? lol. Nothing like being politically cracked with warm fuzzy intentions and jeopardising your nation - that poo bah liberal mind set is pervasive and dangerous in a world of crazies ...and unfortunately personifies the wacky west.
retch..
Posted by: Jim   2006-12-08 20:07  

#17  This POS was courtmartialed. He did not receive a civilian jury trial. If he had a jury, the jury was composed of military types - officer and enlisted. If he wanted to blab classified info in court, you can bet all attendees were appropriately cleared. That is one major advantage of military trials over civilian.

Thank you, Rambler. This is why I made mention of how we need to limit exposure of vital information when trying traitors. That a military court handed down such a light sentence is simply stunning.
Posted by: Zenster   2006-12-08 19:10  

#16  I had heard the expression "tarred and feathered" but never gave it much thought, let alone conjured a visual, until I watched season 2 of Carnivale. It strikes me as a fine Colonial tradition in need of resurrecting for these troubled times.
Posted by: Excalibur   2006-12-08 15:24  

#15  "Startled family when he told them he was going to join the Navy as he was idealistic and interested in art, classical music and history. Just my opinion, but does NOT sound like military material to me. I think he made a mistake enlisting. " Salem 2003 newspaper article quoted him as having interest in foreign languages and that he planned to study Russian and become a translator. And it looks like others found him to be a nice little sitting duck too. He was probably taken in by the ads for the Navy, which are very effective and would appeal to art/music/history types with self-image issues. Just a guess . . . He should have realized his mistake, put in his time and gotten OUT, instead of trying to escape his bad decision. The military isn't for everyone. Too bad, too, because he could have made a good living as a translator.
Posted by: ex-lib   2006-12-08 14:46  

#14  Zen,

This POS was courtmartialed. He did not receive a civilian jury trial. If he had a jury, the jury was composed of military types - officer and enlisted. If he wanted to blab classified info in court, you can bet all attendees were appropriately cleared. That is one major advantage of military trials over civilian.
Posted by: Rambler   2006-12-08 14:09  

#13  I can only hope that his time in prison ends when he has to bend over for the soap. p'haps he will slip and hit his head on the floor. repeatedly.
i hope his parents are so proud.
Posted by: USN, Ret.   2006-12-08 14:07  

#12  Also, if he's so patriotic, I'm sure there's a way we could fashion a flag into a noose and hang him with that.

If you're going to abuse Old Glory, that's the best way to do it. Isn't it time for traitors to be disallowed jury trials so that they cannot threaten to divulge national secrets when their case is tried? This would eliminate many of the opportunities to obtain plea bargains. Cooperation should obtain ZERO reduction of sentence, only a change in which prison population the convict is placed with.
Posted by: Zenster   2006-12-08 12:27  

#11  What a whiney little piece of sh$$! I hope he "finds himself" in prison. Most of the guys there doing time don't really hate the US like whiney-boy does. TWO YEARS in the Navy and it's too much? I hope the Navy reviews their recruiting practices to keep crap like this from happening again.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2006-12-08 12:24  

#10  Just as I predicted, this guy got off with a slap on the wrists instead of having them slashed. It's fine to get disillusioned about your service but guess what I bet the navy would have let you go if you didn't feel you couldn't serve anymore. He committed TREASON in a time of war and those should have been the charges. But since we have such candy-assed civilian/military leaders they let this TRAITOR off easy. I wonder what someone would have to do to be charged with treason today. I am just a simple-minded retarded military type and I don't know where that line is anymore.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge   2006-12-08 12:10  

#9  Entrance to an unnamed third country? The lad had been reading too many espionage novels. What appalling nonsense.
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-12-08 11:47  

#8  "Weinmann testified Monday morning that he hoped to trade secret documents for entrance into an unnamed third country. “The only way I could get into the country would be to use these documents as leverage,” he told OÂ’Toole.Weinmann did not name the country, but said that while relations between the U.S. and that country were cordial, there was a historical “degree of competition” between the countries that he hoped to exploit."

From the NavyTimes

I'll let others speculate who that third country is.
Posted by: DepotGuy   2006-12-08 11:18  

#7  I googled the young man, and found a fascinating site. Some intriguing bits:

Spying For: Allegedly for Russia
Spying Activities: Tried to pass secrets to foreign officials while in Bahrain (during sub's port visit) in March 2005; in Vienna on 19 October 2005; and in Mexico City on 19 March 2006. Lived for months in Vienna after deserting in July 2005.

Weinmann put electronic copies of the classified information classified confidential and secret onto a government laptop between May and July 2005, knowing that the information "was to be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation."

Then allegedly stole the laptop, three CD-ROMs, an external computer storage device and memory cards for storing digital images when he deserted the submarine in Connecticut on July 3, 2005.

Military officials believe he destroyed the hard drive "by smashing it with a mallet" in Vienna in March 2006.

Home: Salem, Oregon

Possible Motivations/ Problems: Became disillusioned about life in the Navy after a six month tour on the Albuquerque in waters off Europe and the Middle East and the submarine's intelligence gathering and surveillance missions (also complained the technology was old). After just one deployment he went AWOL. Weinmann told his father this about his mission on the USS Albuquerque that he "protected George Bush's oil." Distraught after his girlfriend broke up with him. Startled family when he told them he was going to join the Navy as he was idealistic and interested in art, classical music and history. Salem 2003 newspaper article quoted him as having interest in foreign languages and that he planned to study Russian and become a translator.

He sounds like a Kos Kiddie waiting for the chance to cause trouble. I mean, Russia? Who gives secrets to Russia anymore? Your serious spies either go for China or one of the Al Qaeda clones.
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-12-08 11:13  

#6  "They never did say what country got the info. Anybody know?"

The embassy was identified in court only as belonging to “Country X.” A Pentagon source who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that the country was Russia.

From an article in the The Virginian-Pilot
Posted by: DepotGuy   2006-12-08 11:09  

#5  "This is a very patriotic kid and a very patriotic family," Weinmann's civilian attorney, Phillip Stackhouse, told O'Toole. "You have to ask yourself, 'How did this happen?' "

How? No I don't have to ask. Who cares. No more than Benedict Arnold or Jefferson Davis, both of whom served with great valor and distinction. Then one day, they made, as history adjudges, a bad choice. They lived with it. Ariel will too.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2006-12-08 10:04  

#4  They never did say what country got the info. Anybody know?
Also, if he's so patriotic, I'm sure there's a way we could fashion a flag into a noose and hang him with that.
Posted by: tu3031   2006-12-08 08:50  

#3  This guy should've been shot, & if that classified info leads to the deaths of any U.S. servicemen he'll have some more apologizing to do. F*cking *sshole...."my fiance left me" *he prolly said that with the quivering lip and whiny voice* - boo fricken' hoo sparky, what's that have to do with getting paid for selling out your country? The answer is nothing. Weinmann, you are truly one pathetic bag of shite, I hope you run out of soap on a rope while your in the clink.

This is one of those stories I'll make a mental note of, so if I get an incurable disease in my middle age years I'll remember this loser and track him down because at that point I'll have nothing to lose.
Posted by: Broadhead6   2006-12-08 08:11  

#2  "You have to ask yourself, 'How did this happen?' "

I'm gathering the mouthpiece is trying to parcel out blame to 'us' or 'society'. The only reason I would ask that question is to determine how we missed identifying him as a security risk.

Oh yeah, and if you haven't had a girlfriend or fiancee leave you, you just ain't trying hard enough.

Posted by: GORT   2006-12-08 08:11  

#1  "This is a very patriotic kid "

With patriots like this, who needs traitors?
Posted by: Glenmore   2006-12-08 07:33  

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