Army charges Anchorage-based soldier with attempted spying

Spc. William C. Millay, 22, was also charged with five other criminal violations related to the espionage investigation by Army Counterintelligence agents, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the FBI. Among them: lying to investigators and asking another service member for classified information and physical objects that he could provide the "agent."

An Army spokesman in Alaska declined to provide the actual charging documents, a step in military proceedings that could result in a court-martial for Millay. Instead, the Army provided a two-page summary of the charges.

In the prepared statement, the Army said Millay, a military policeman from Owensboro, Ky., turned over only unclassified material to the purported spy.

"Millay 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," the Army statement said.

The Army didn't say which foreign power Millay thought he was assisting. The description of the charges implies, though doesn't say directly, that Millay was targeted in an undercover sting by government agents. And the Army's statement about the charges didn't say the United States could have been hurt by Millay's actions, only that a foreign power would have benefited. It couldn't be determined from the statement whether the foreign country was hostile to the United States or was even an ally.

Millay has been held in the Anchorage jail since his arrest Oct. 28. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, he won't have to enter a plea until after an investigation hearing -- a so-called Article 32 hearing -- expected after New Year's, said his attorney, Stephen Karns of Dallas.

Karns said in an email message Monday that he had just received the charges and had not been able to speak yet to Millay.

"I also haven't received any of the evidence, so it's difficult to comment at this time other than to say that my client is innocent," Karns wrote. "The charges sound far worse than what I think anyone who knows him would say he's capable of doing."

Karns said Millay was "a simple young kid from Kentucky, who loves his country and has followed in his brother's footsteps in joining the Army."

According to the Army, Millay was attached to the 164th Military Police Company, 793rd Military Police Battalion, 2nd Engineer Brigade, which deployed to Afghanistan in March. Millay has one previous combat deployment -- in Iraq from December 2009 to July 2010.

He joined the Army in November 2007, had basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri and served in Korea and Fort Stewart, Ga., before arriving at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in May, two months after his new company had deployed. He served in the 164th's rear detachment, the small group of soldiers in a unit who remain behind to support the ones overseas.

The Army's statement didn't say when Millay came under suspicion or why. But it said he failed to report to superiors his multiple contacts with someone he believed to be a foreign intelligence agent.

The attempted espionage charge said Millay "communicated and transmitted unclassified national defense information to an individual whom he believed was a foreign intelligence agent, with the intent to aid a foreign nation."

A related charge of communicating defense information said that Millay, "having been entrusted with unclassified national defense information that could be used to the advantage of a foreign nation, willfully communicated the information to persons not entitled to receive it."

Under the 5th Amendment, soldiers have fewer protections than civilians against self-incrimination, especially during times of war. The charge against Millay of providing false official statements said he failed to tell Army counterintelligence agents the "full scope" of his efforts to contact "foreign governments" and the "full nature" of what he told the supposed spy.

He was also charged with concealing two firearms and ammunition in his barracks room.

Reach Richard Mauer at rmauer@adn.com or 257-4345.