U.S. Navy sailor based in Japan charged with espionage

The U.S. has charged a Navy sailor based in Japan with espionage for allegedly providing classified material to a foreign government.

Bryce Pedicini, a chief petty officer fire controlman, is accused of passing documents to an employee of a foreign government at least seven times between Nov. 2022 and May 2023, according to a charge sheet obtained by NBC News.

Pedecini is “suspected of mishandling classified documents and information,” U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesperson Commander Arlo Abrahamson said in a statement. “The incident remains under investigation and legal proceedings continue,” he said.

It is unclear which government Pedicini is accused of colluding with.

Pedicini was assigned to the guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins and delivered multiple documents to an employee of a foreign government relating to “national defense,” according to the charge sheet filed by the Navy.

The exact nature of the documents is unknown but Pedicini is also accused of smuggling photos of a computer screen designed for classified information to a foreign official while he was in Yokosuka, Japan last May.

Pedicini had “lawful access to information relating to the national defense of the United States,” read the charge sheet, which “could be used to the injury of the United States and to the advantage of a foreign nation.”

The Navy also accuses him of “failing to report a foreign contact,” and for taking a personal electronic device into a “secure room.”

The sailor had joined the Navy in 2009 and had served multiple naval ships and received awards throughout his career. Since being charged in May, Pedicini has been under pre-trial confinement and was set to face a court martial this week, according to the charge sheet.

Earlier this