Terrorist-Hunting Vigilantes In California

Last July, the San Diego Union-Tribune broke the story of Gunnery Sgt. Gary Maziarz, who was court marshaled for stealing military intelligence documents and sharing them with several people that included a Los Angeles police detective and a sheriff's deputy:

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Gary Maziarz said patriotism motivated him to join a spy ring, smuggle secret files from Camp Pendleton and give them to law enforcement officers for anti-terrorism work in Southern California.

He knew his group was violating national security laws. But he said bureaucratic walls erected by the military and civilian agencies were hampering intelligence sharing and coordination, making the nation more vulnerable to terrorists.

In a plea deal, Maziarz was sentenced to a 26 months in prison in exchange for information and testimony against those he passed files. According to TCS Daily, the group of people who received the documents are an interesting bunch:

Among the alleged conspirators are two colonels in the Marine Corps Reserve, one a detective for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the other a veteran in the LAPD. A commander in the Naval Reserve who worked as an intelligence analyst at U.S. Northern Command headquarters is also an alleged conspirator.

The conspirators are allegedly part of a vigilante group of comprised of soldiers and law enforcement officers, which begs the question: Why do they feel they need to steal documents in order to help their country?

The case of Sgt. Maziarz is interesting enough in its own right, but his 26 month prison sentence further highlights the soft treatment another government official received for stealing classified documents – former U.S. National Security Adviser Sandy Berger.

Berger was charged with stealing classified documents in 2003:

The charging document states that between September 2 and October 2, 2003, Berger "knowingly removed classified documents from the National Archives and Records Administration and stored and retained such documents at places ... including his place of employment."

Berger's plea deal got him a $10,000 fine (around what quarterback Tom Brady received for not buckling his chin-strap) and a three-year suspension of his security clearance. Now, he is an adviser to Hillary Clinton, and still hasn't taken the lie-detector test that was a condition of his probation.