Feds Say Classified Material Was Stolen

[Ghost in the Machine]

Feds Say Classified Material Was Stolen
Published: 7/20/07, 2:05 AM EDT
By By DUNCAN MANSFIELD

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A contract employee at a nuclear material cleanup site pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he stole classified equipment used in enriching uranium and sold it to an undercover FBI agent posing as an official for the French government.

Roy Lynn Oakley, 65, of Roane County, was detained for questioning in January before surrendering to authorities on Thursday. None of the data made it out of the country or was transmitted to criminal or terrorist groups, the Justice Department said.

Oakley was charged with two counts of possessing hardware used in uranium enrichment. He could face a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

His lawyer, Herb Moncier, said Oakley never took anything important from the site, and contended he was being prosecuted for selling three to five pieces of broken pipe that would have otherwise been thrown away. Government lawyers, Moncier said, "say they are 'appliances.' We say they are trash."

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