Who Is Harold Thomas Martin? NSA Contractor Accused Of Stealing Classified Information, Compared To Edward Snowden

The United States Department of Justice announced Wednesday the arrest of a man authorities say stole classified information from the government. The suspect in question is Harold Thomas Martin, age 51, Reuters reported. He was a government contractor with Booz Allen Hamilton, the management firm that also employed National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The New York Times wrote Tuesday about the arrest but did not name Martin. The Times reported the contractor took information "different in nature" than Snowden's, which in 2013 revealed government surveillance of Americans' private communications.

The Justice Department said in its news release that Martin was charged with "theft of government property "as well as "unauthorized removal and retention of classified materials by a government employee or contractor." He's accused of taking six classified documents "critical to a wide variety of national security issues."

Martin was arrested in August and was still in custody Wednesday. He faces up to 11 years total in prison, according to ABC News.

Martin's attorney is James Wyda, a public defender, the Baltimore Sun reported exclusively on Wednesday. "There's no evidence that Hal Martin has betrayed his country," Wyda told the Sun. "What we do know is that Hal Martin loves his family and his country, he served this nation honorably in the U.S. Navy, and he has devoted his entire country to protecting his country."

The release gave the following details about the allegations against Martin:

According to the affidavit, on August 27, 2016, search warrants were executed at Martin’s residence in Glen Burnie, including two storage sheds, as well as upon his vehicle and person. During execution of the warrants, investigators located hard copy documents and digital information stored on various devices and removable digital media. A large percentage of the materials recovered from Martin’s residence and vehicle bore markings indicating that they were property of the United States and contained highly classified information of the United States, including Top Secret and Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI). In addition, investigators located property of the United States with an aggregate value in excess of $1,000, which Martin allegedly stole.

A LinkedIn profile for a "Hal Martin" in Annapolis Junction, Maryland, shows work experience in the Navy, as Wyda mentioned. The user wrote that his "goal is to advance state of the art in several areas of computing practices in the public/private sector by pursuing research and engineering solutions to CAMBRIC issues," using an acronym for cloud computing, artificial intelligence, mobility, big data, robotics, the internet of things and cybersecurity.

The page also links to a research site hosted by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where the LinkedIn profile says Martin is pursuing his PhD in computing.