Margaret Anne Ashby, a former employee of a Department of Defense component agency, has pleaded guilty to mishandling classified materials. The 26-year-old from Henderson, Nevada, admitted to the unauthorized removal of sensitive documents during her employment in the Southern District of Georgia.
According to the plea agreement, Ashby held a top secret security clearance necessary for her role starting in March 2020. Between February and May 2022, she knowingly removed documents containing classified information related to national defense or foreign relations without authority. These materials were retained at unauthorized locations including her residence and digital files on a personal computing device.
Ashby's sentencing date is yet to be determined. She could face up to five years in prison and three years of supervised release for her actions, along with significant financial penalties. A federal district court judge will decide the sentence after reviewing U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case was announced by Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Jill E. Steinberg for the Southern District of Georgia, and Robert Wells of the FBI National Security Branch.
The FBI conducted the investigation into Ashby's activities. The prosecution team includes Assistant U.S. Attorneys L. Alexander Hamner and Darron J. Hubbard for the Southern District of Georgia, as well as Trial Attorney David J. Ryan from the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.