HALIFAX, Nova Scotia –  A former Canadian Navy intelligence officer who pleaded guilty to espionage on Wednesday was selling secrets to the Russians for about $3,000 a month.
Sub-Lt. Jeffrey Paul Delisle showed no emotion as he acknowledged to a Nova Scotia provincial court judge that he understood the consequences of entering guilty pleas to three charges and was voluntarily giving up his right to a trial
Federal prosecutor Lyne Decarie outlined the case against Delisle during a bail hearing in March, saying he voluntarily entered the Russian embassy in Ottawa in 2007 and offered to sell information to them. A publication ban was imposed on those hearings at the time.
At the bail hearing, Decarie read portions of a police statement where Delisle reportedly described the day he walked into the embassy as “professional suicide.”
“The day I flipped sides … from that day on, that was the end of my days as Jeff Delisle,” Decarie read from his statement.
She said he claimed to police that his betrayal “was for ideological reasons” and that he wasn’t doing it for the money.”
Delisle, 41, worked at a naval communications and intelligence center in Halifax that was a multinational base with access to secret data from NATO countries.
Decarie alleged in court that Delisle had access to the facility’s secure and unsecured systems that contained information from Canada and allies, and that he shared mostly military data.
Decarie said Delisle was asked to search for Russian references in the past month on his work computer, then copy it onto a USB key and take it home with him where he uploaded it to an email program that he shared with his foreign handler.
Decarie said Delisle, a father who is divorced from his first wife, received $5,000 for the first couple transfers and then $3,000 every month. Decarie said he began doing it “following some personal problem.”
He came to the authorities’ attention when he was returning from a trip to Brazil to meet a Russian handler in the fall of 2011, Decarie said. He was carrying several thousand dollars after staying the country only four days, raising the suspicions of Canada Border Services agents who shared their concerns with the police and military.
The prosecution said some time after, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police took over the account he shared with the Russians, allowing him to think he was transmitting material to a Russian agent when “it was actually the RCMP opening the email.”
Delisle was arrested in Halifax last Jan. 13 and charged with espionage and breach of trust, making him the first person in Canada to be convicted under the country’s Security of Information Act which was passed by Parliament after the terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.
Defense lawyer Mike Taylor said the evidence against his client is overwhelming.
“You reach a point in which you say, ‘OK we’re toast,'” Taylor said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “Barring some catastrophic happening there was going to be a conviction.”
Taylor said at no time did his client put any Canadian troops in danger.
“There was no information that indicated where troops were or ships were,” he said.
Taylor also suggested the Russians put pressure on when at one point he tried to stop spying. Decarie said Delisle told officers that the Russians had pictures of his children.
“They had all my information. They had photos of me,” Decarie read from the statement. “They had photos of my children and I knew exactly what it was for.”
Delisle, wearing a blue hooded sweat shirt, jeans and glasses, clasped his hands and appeared unmoved as the judge asked him if he understood the consequences of the plea on Wednesday.
Taylor said no deal on sentencing was reached with the prosecution. Delisle is looking at life in prison, but Taylor said it will be up to the judge. Two days of sentencing hearings will start Jan. 10.
The Canadian military, the government and police have not revealed any details about what information is alleged to have been disclosed. A spokesman for Canada’s defense minister said they’ll reserve comment as the judicial process continues.
Delisle, who joined the navy as a reservist in 1996, became a member of the regular forces in 2001 and was promoted to an officer rank in 2008. He had access to systems with information shared by the Five Eyes community that includes Canada, the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
In damage assessments read in court, officials in the Canadian intelligence community said the breaches from 2007 to 2012 could unmask intelligence sources and place a chill on the sharing of vital security information among allies.
“Delisle’s unauthorized disclosure to the Russians since 2007 has caused severe and irreparable damage to Canadian interests,” one official wrote in a statement read by Decarie.
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Associated Press Writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
(09-25) 13:49 PDT OAKLAND — A divorce attorney pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that she hired a private investigator, who was a central character in Contra Costa County’s “dirty DUI” scandal, to illegally install listening devices inside the car of a client’s ex-husband.
Mary Nolan, 60, appeared in Oakland federal court, where she also pleaded innocent to four counts of tax evasion. She faces up to 15 years in prison and $750,000 in fines if convicted on all counts.
Nolan was first linked to disgraced private investigator Christopher Butler,50, in 2010, after two men told The Chronicle that she used their drunken driving arrests against them in divorce and custody battles. Both men have since filed civil lawsuits against Nolan alleging she orchestrated their arrests through Butler.
Butler pleaded guilty earlier this year to using attractive women to meet estranged husbands in bars and set them up for drunken driving arrests by police officers tied for him.
Butler, who is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday afternoon, admitted in court papers that Nolan referred clients to him. He also estimated that he bugged between 75 and 100 cars during his tenure as a private investigators.
Nolan was never charged in connection with the drunken driving scandal that snared Butler and others.
But prosecutors alleged in their separate case against Nolan that in at least one instance she hired Butler to bug the car of a client’s spouse so she could use the recorded information against him in divorce proceedings.
Nolan’s court appearance drew the attention of Phil Dominic, 55, of Oakland, who said Nolan represented his ex-girlfriend in a 2010 custody dispute over their son. His case is not the one forming the basis of the criminal case against Nolan.
Dominic said Nolan lied about him to family court judges and destroyed his relationship with the mother of his son, as well as his child.
“This is Christmas for me,” said Dominic, who heckled Nolan as she left the courthouse.
Dominic said he was organizing a group of men whose wives were represented by Nolan to discuss taking legal action against the attorney.
“I told her one day she’d get caught,” Dominic said. “I told her, ‘One day I’m going to see you on the other side.”
Outside court, Nolan’s attorney Jay Weill declined to comment.
Nolan is scheduled to appear in court next month for further proceedings.
Justin Berton is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
Cyber terrorism and espionage have been highlighted as growing threats to Australian organisations and government departments, according to a new annual report by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).
The Annual Report 2011-12, which was tabled in the federal parliament this week, found that ASIO completed more than 150,000 counter terrorism security assessments during the reporting period.
“Emerging technology and an Internet-connected world offer new avenues of espionage,” read the report.
“The espionage threat is evidence by foreign intelligence services seeking agents in relevant positions, including in the Australian public service and working for Australian businesses, but also seeking access to any computer system or network holding data that could be targeted for espionage activity.”
According to the report, cyber espionage state and non-state actors continued to target Australian organisations.
ASIO pointed out that critical infrastructure, such as SCADA networks, is one area organisations need to focus on protecting in Australia.
“Critical infrastructure by its very nature poses a potential target for those who wish to do harm to Australia and so careful consideration must be given to matters having an impact on the security of critical infrastructure,” read the report.
“No single element of critical infrastructure stands alone and the potential for threats against auxiliary assets must also be considered.”
Over the 2011-12 period, ASIO provided 25 briefing sessions on potential or specific threats to critical infrastructure and produced 22 reports. These were sent to more than 153 government and private sector organisations.
Cyber terrorism
Turning to terrorism, ASIO reported that international influences through the Internet will continue to inspire some Australians to potentially join terrorism groups such as al-Qa’ida.
“Over the 12 months, al-Qa’ida and its affiliates have suffered a number of setbacks including the loss of senior figures such as Anwar al-Aulaqi, in Yemen,” read the report.
“The continuing counter-terrorism efforts of Australia’s partners in South-East Asia are also having an effect on regional extremist networks, although terrorist threats persist.”
However, ASIO conceded that these setbacks have not lessened the extent of what the report referred to as “violent jihadist” groups to promote, foster and engage in terrorism.
“The global tempo of terrorist activities, including attacks, attempted attacks, plotting, fundraising and recruitment, remains undiminished.”
CREST
The report went on to highlight ASIO’s connection with the Australian arm of the Council of Registered Ethical Security Testers (CREST) which was established in March 2012.
“CREST Australia is the product of co-ordinated engagement with industry involving ASIO, CERT Australia and the Defence Signals Directorate [DSD] and will have an important role in establishing clear and agreed standards for cyber-security testing.”
According to the report, the CREST standards will help the business sector be confident that the work conducted by CREST-accredited IT security professionals is completed with integrity, accountability and to agreed international standards. In addition, CREST Australia is affiliated with CREST Great Britain.
A Maryland Transit Administration decision to record the conversations of bus drivers and passengers to investigate crimes, accidents and poor customer service has come under attack from privacy advocates and state lawmakers who say it may go too far.
The first 10 buses — marked with signs to alert passengers to the open microphones — began service this week in Baltimore, and officials expect to expand that to 340 buses, about half the fleet, by next summer. Microphones are incorporated in the video surveillance system that has been in place for years.
“We want to make sure people feel safe, and this builds up our arsenal of tools to keep our patrons safe,” said Ralign Wells, MTA administrator. “The audio completes the information package for investigators and responders.”
Wells said the system was deemed legal by the state attorney general’s office and letters were sent to the American Civil Liberties Union and the union representing bus drivers informing them of the initiative. A spokesman for the attorney general’s office confirmed that transit officials were advised by their counsel that based on a 2000 appeals court decision, the audio recordings did not violate the state wiretapping law.
But an ACLU lawyer said he was “flabbergasted” that MTA officials would try to record people’s conversations under the guise of a pilot program after a similar proposal was rejected in 2009 by the state’s highest-ranking transportation official and by the General Assembly on three occasions.
“People don’t want or need to have their private conversations recorded by MTA as a condition of riding a bus,” said David Rocah, a staff attorney with the Maryland chapter of the ACLU. “A significant number of people have no viable alternative to riding a bus, and they should not be forced to give up their privacy rights.”
Wells said a digital recorder similar to an aviation black box and capable of storing 30 days of audio and video information is locked in an equipment box on each MTA bus. In the event of an accident, an incident involving passengers or a complaint against a driver, investigators can remove the recorder and download the file for review.
The cost is negligible, Wells said, since the six cameras inside each bus are capable of recording audio and all new buses will have audio-video systems as standard equipment.
MTA police dispatchers receive 45 to 100 daily calls for assistance from bus drivers for everything from an unhappy rider to criminal activity, said Capt. Burna McCollum, commander of the MTA police technical services division.
Video is a critical tool for investigators sorting out the details of an incident, but when witnesses walk away, are reluctant to cooperate or give conflicting accounts, an audio recording can fill in missing information, McCollum said.
Surveillance policies in the region vary widely. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority use security cameras on their buses but draw the line at audio recordings of passengers. Montgomery County’s 335-bus Ride On system is about to add audio surveillance to its video capability. Baltimore’s nearly three-year-old Circulator buses record both video and audio.
Two members of the state Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee say the MTA’s decision to record passengers without their consent is troubling.
“It’s an end run and ripe for a court challenge,” said Sen. James Brochin, a Baltimore County Democrat. “They have absolutely no grounds to do this. If we can’t get them to listen and change their minds, we’ll deal with this … and make them defend what’s indefensible.”
Sen. Jamie Raskin, a Montgomery County Democrat and a constitutional law expert, said that while he understands the need to protect public transportation customers, “this sounds kind of Big Brotherish to me.”
Raskin said bus patrons should have been consulted, and a clear policy on who has access to the recordings and how long they are kept should have been spelled out to the public before the program was initiated.
“This is such a giant step forward in dissolving the privacy expectations of people who ride the bus,” he said. “Legislators are going to want to know what the compelling reason is for initiating this now.”
In 2009, the acting secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation derailed a similar MTA proposal and asked for more review, calling privacy matters “the ultimate test of people’s trust in government.”
In each of the last three legislative sessions, bills filed on behalf of MTA to authorize recording devices and establish ground rules for their use were rejected in committee.
“When House and Senate committees individually look at a proposal and nearly unanimously reject it, you know it’s bad public policy,” Brochin said.
But one of the bills’ sponsors, Del. Melvin Stukes, an MTA customer service investigator, said state officials have been “gun-shy” in dealing with the ACLU and unions. The intent of the legislation, he said, was to eliminate bad language that often sparks violence.
“This is not your bathroom. This is not your bedroom. Buses are public spaces and people are elbow to elbow,” Stukes said. “I’m not trying to punish people. I’m just trying to clean up problems I hear about every day so that people realize that MTA is trying to provide a more congenial, more cordial ride.”
The chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee predicts that the entire matter will have to be resolved by the legislature.
“If this is something that’s necessary and useful, standards must be set for oversight and accountability,” said Sen. Brian Frosh, a Montgomery County Democrat. “The job of figuring this out definitely should not be left to the agency doing the listening.”
SUTTONS BAY — A settlement agreement that ended a long-running and acrimonious lawsuit against top Leelanau County sheriff’s officials will be public in a matter of weeks, authorities said.
Leelanau County’s Board of Commissioners recently voted to settle a federal lawsuit filed against the county, Sheriff Mike Oltersdorf and Undersheriff Scott Wooters by a group of deputies in 2009. The deputies accused Oltersdorf and Wooters of eavesdropping, among other misconduct.
County officials won’t reveal settlement terms, but county Administrator Chet Janik said financial and other details will be available once attorneys file the final agreement with court.
“That document will be public,” he said. “I’m guessing it will probably be about six weeks.”
The board voted 5-1 to accept the settlement, with Melinda Lautner dissenting and David Marshall absent.
Janik said the county is happy to finally close the doors on the suit.
“Everyone is glad it’s been resolved,” Janik said. “It’s been a long process for all sides, and it’s caused tremendous stress on all sides.”
Lautner said she believed settling was a “disservice” to the county.
“My vote, I thought, was in the best interest of not only my constituents, but all of the taxpayers,” she said. “There’s just a lot of information we received in closed session that the public was not aware of that would have come to light had it gone to trial.”
Trial was scheduled to start next week, and Janik said the county’s insurance company advised the county to settle, rather than risk losing at trial.
“It was a very difficult choice for commissioners, as they have some strong feelings about it,” he said.
The suit stems from allegations that Oltersdorf and Wooters illegally listened to conversations on what employees believed to be private lines at the sheriff’s department on several occasions dating to 2006. Sheriff’s administrators then retaliated against employees who publicly criticized the practice, the suit alleged.
Oltersdorf and Wooters both declined comment. Mike Dettmer, an attorney for the deputies, also declined comment.
