Former Federal Employee Pleads Guilty to Mishandling Classified Materials

Margaret Anne Ashby, 26, of Henderson, Nevada, pleaded guilty today for mishandling sensitive documents as a former employee of a Department of Defense component agency.

As described in the plea agreement, starting in March 2020, Ashby was a civilian employee of a Department of Defense component agency located in the Southern District of Georgia, and during this time held a top secret security clearance as required for her employment.

From February 2022 to May 2022, Ashby, without authority, knowingly removed documents and materials containing classified information "concerning the national defense or foreign relations of the United States . . . with the intent to retain them at unauthorized locations, including her residence in the Southern District of Georgia and in digital files saved via a personal computing device located in the Southern District of Georgia."

A sentencing date has not yet been set. Ashby faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and three years of supervised release for mishandling sensitive documents, along with substantial financial penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Jill E. Steinberg for the Southern District of Georgia, and Robert Wells of the FBI National Security Branch announced the case.

The FBI investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys L. Alexander Hamner and Darron J. Hubbard for the Southern District of Georgia and Trial Attorney David J. Ryan of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.