Alaska attempted-espionage case
ANCHORAGE — U.S. Army officials could decide in February when to schedule a court hearing for an Alaska-based soldier charged with attempted espionage.
Army officials say 22-year-old Spc. William Colton Millay of Owensboro, Ky., transmitted national-defense information to someone he believed was a foreign-intelligence agent.
Officials have declined to say what country Millay believed the so-called agent represented. Millay, who faces life imprisonment, was observed during the espionage investigation and no damage occurred, officials said.
Millay, a military police officer, also is charged with communicating defense information, issuing false statements, failing to obey regulations and soliciting a fellow service member at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage to get classified material.
The Army’s equivalent of a preliminary hearing may be scheduled next month and could lead to a general court-martial, similar to a criminal trial in the civilian court system. But it’s too soon to know when the preliminary hearing actually will be held, Lt. Col. Bill Coppernoll said.
Millay’s October arrest at the base stemmed from an investigation by the Army, FBI and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. He is being held at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, south of Tacoma.
When Millay was charged, Army officials said he “had access to the information through the course of his normal duties both stateside and on a previous deployment, and although the information was unclassified, Millay believed that it could be used to the advantage of a foreign nation.”
Officials are not saying what time period was involved, but Millay’s attorney, Steve Karns, of Dallas, said the allegations cover 2011.
Millay was assigned to a combat tour in Iraq from December 2009 to July 2010, and he served in Korea, according to information provided by the Army.
Millay has not entered a plea in the case but says he is innocent, Karns said. “He’s not depressed. He’s very cordial, polite and relaxed.” The upcoming preliminary proceeding is called an Article 32 hearing. An investigating officer then will recommend to the commander of Millay’s brigade any of several options, including to dismiss, alter or change the charges, or proceed with the original charges, likely through a general court martial.
The brigade commander then would make a recommendation to the commander of U.S. Army Alaska, who would have the final say in whether to prosecute or drop the charges.
If Millay is court-martialed, he would get to choose whether the case is handled by a military judge or a military panel.