US Navy chief based in Japan charged with espionage and sharing classified documents with a foreign citizen after 'secretly smuggling files out from secure places'

• Chief Petty Officer Fire Controlman Bryce Pedicini has been charged with espionage 
• He is accused of giving documents to an employee of a foreign government between November 2022 and February 2023 in Virginia 
• Pedicini allegedly attempted to communicate information relating to national defense photographs while in Japan in May

A Navy chief based in Japan has been charged with espionage and communicating defense information to a foreign citizen.

Chief Petty Officer Fire Controlman Bryce Pedicini has been charged with espionage and other criminal charges for delivering classified information to a foreign contact in 2022 and 2023, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.

‘A sailor assigned to the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG 76) is suspected of mishandling classified documents and information. The incident remains under investigation and legal proceedings continue,’ U.S. Naval Surface Force spokesperson said.

Pedicini is accused of giving documents to an employee of a foreign government on several occasions between November 2022 through February 2023 in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

Chief Petty Officer Fire Controlman Bryce Pedicini has been charged with espionage and other criminal charges for delivering classified information to a foreign contact in 2022 and 2023

Pedicini is accused of giving documents to an employee of a foreign government on several occasions between November 2022 through February 2023 in Hampton Roads, Virginia

From May 8 to May 17, while in Yokosuka, Japan he allegedly attempted to communicate information relating to national defense photographs that included images of a computer screen with secret information.

The charging documents said he had, ‘information relating to the national defense of the United States with reason to believe that it would be used to the injury of the United States and to the advantage of a foreign nation.’

He is also accused of wrongfully taking his personally owned electronic device into a secure room and processing classified material on a system that was not approved for classified material.

He also allegedly failed to report solicitation of classified information by an unauthorized person.

According to the charging documents, Pedicini was arrested shortly after the Japan incident and has been in pre-trial confinement since May 19.

From May 8 to May 17, while in Yokosuka, Japan, he allegedly attempted to communicate information relating to national defense photographs that included images of a computer screen with secret information

According to the charging documents, Pedicini was arrested shortly after the Japan incident and has been in pre-trial confinement since May 19

The charges were referred for a general court-martial on January 18, and he was set to have a hearing on Wednesday in San Diego.

His Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a civilian arraignment, has already occurred.

Pedicini, originally from Tennessee, joined the Navy in 2008 and was promoted to chief in August 22.

He had previously served on USS McFaul and USS Curtis Wilbur before reporting to USS Higgins in April.

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