Former L-3 Translator Gets 9 Years for Iraq Breach

Noureddine Malki, a former Arabic translator for L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (LLL)’s Titan unit, was sentenced to nine years in prison for gaining unauthorized access to documents about military plans in Iraq.

Malki was sentenced today in Brooklyn, New York, federal court for the second time over the matter, prosecutors said. He was initially sentenced to more than 10 years in prison in May 2008. That penalty was reversed on appeal after an error was discovered in calculations of his guideline sentencing range.

In August 2003, Malki used a fake identity to gain a position as a translator for Titan, a contractor to the U.S. Army, and obtain security clearances, prosecutors alleged. While on assignment in Iraq, Malki obtained documents describing U.S. plans for combating insurgents and a photograph identifying troop routes.

“Significant breaches of national security must be prosecuted aggressively,” Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement. “Today’s resentencing ensures that he will spend nine years contemplating the failure of his plans.”

James Glasser, a lawyer for Malki, didn’t immediately return a call for comment on the sentencing.

The case is U.S. v. Malki, 05-cr-00845, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).

To contact the reporter on this story: Christie Smythe in New York at csmythe1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net