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Marine Corps major faces info smuggling charges at Camp Pendleton
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A Marine Corps officer accused of participating in a major intelligence breach at Camp Pendleton faced an Article 32 hearing yesterday at the base.
During the hearing, which is the military equivalent of a grand jury proceeding, Marine prosecutors said that Maj. Mark Lowe, 46, was complicit in the illegal transfer of classified information from his military intelligence unit to a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept. terrorism task force.
During the hearing, Maj. Lowe's defense team said there's no evidence that he was involved in the info smuggling, and that it was all the work of others in his unit. Four other Marines have been of whom have been charged or convicted in the case, in which the government says that a handful of Camp Pendleton Marines gave classified data to Col. Larry Richards, an activated reservist who led the unit before returning to his civilian job as a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy in 2004.
In his civilian life, Richards worked with the Sheriff's Department's Terrorism Early Warning Group. He solicited his old Marine unit to give him inside military intelligence about alleged terrorist activity.
A Marine investigating officer is overseeing the Article 32 hearing, and he will later recommend whether Lowe should be court-martialed. Last week, USMC reserve Master Sgt. Reinaldo Pagan was convicted of related charges and sentenced to 60 days in the brig and a reduction in rank, plus fined.
The other defendants in the case are Col. Richards, who's awaiting a hearing to determine if charges against him will stand; Gunnery Sgt. Eric Froboese, who pleaded guilty in June and is awaiting sentencing; and former Gunnery Sgt. Gary Maziarz, who was convicted in 2007 and sentenced to 26 months' confinement and a dishonorable discharge.
For more info: Previous examiner.com article, San Diego Union-Tribune article.
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