Stewart Nozette

Summary

Stewart Nozette, a planetary scientist who held top-secret clearances across decades of work for NASA, the Department of Energy, the Pentagon, and the White House’s National Space Council, was caught in a 2009 FBI sting trying to sell classified U.S. defense secrets — on satellites, early-warning systems, and retaliatory capabilities — to a man he believed was an Israeli intelligence officer. Nozette pleaded guilty to attempted espionage in September 2011 and was sentenced in March 2012 to 13 years in prison. A crucial distinction, emphasized by the Justice Department itself: the indictment did not allege that the government of Israel or anyone acting on its behalf committed any offense. This was a sting; the “Israeli officer” was an American FBI agent. What the case documents is Nozette’s own willingness to spy for Israel, not an actual Israeli operation.

Background

Nozette was an accomplished scientist with an MIT background who helped discover water ice at the south pole of the Moon. He held top-secret clearances between 1989 and 2006 and worked on highly sensitive programs, including the Strategic Defense Initiative (“Star Wars”) missile-defense project. By any measure he was a genuine insider with access to some of the most sensitive U.S. defense and space information — prosecutors would later call him a “walking safe deposit box” of government secrets.

The case has a documented predicate that distinguishes it from a random sting. Before the FBI operation, Nozette had performed paid work for an aerospace company that was wholly owned by the government of Israel. According to the FBI, in the course of that prior relationship Nozette had indicated a willingness to provide classified information. That history is what made an approach by a purported Israeli intelligence officer plausible to him — and what prompted the FBI to construct exactly that scenario.

What Happened

In 2009, an undercover FBI agent contacted Nozette posing as an officer of the Israeli intelligence service Mossad. Over a series of meetings — several at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. — Nozette agreed to provide classified information in exchange for money.

Nozette admitted in federal court that he tried to provide Israel with top-secret information about satellites, early-warning systems, ways of retaliating against a large-scale attack, communications-intelligence information, and major elements of U.S. defense strategy. Prosecutors stated he sought approximately $2 million for the secrets and provided classified materials to the undercover agent on three separate occasions, all captured in a videotaped sting operation.

In one documented exchange just before his arrest, Nozette displayed his motivations plainly. He told the undercover agent that he had expected this kind of approach for years and indicated he would be willing to relocate to Israel, while pressing for cash and an Israeli passport.

Nozette was arrested on October 19, 2009. He was held without bail after a judge agreed with prosecutors that the breadth of his access made him a serious flight risk.

Key Figures

• Stewart David Nozette — Planetary scientist; held top-secret clearances 1989–2006; worked for NASA, DOE, DOD, and the National Space Council; convicted of attempted espionage.
• Undercover FBI agent — Posed as a Mossad officer throughout the sting; the “Israeli” to whom Nozette believed he was selling secrets.
• Senior Judge Paul L. Friedman — U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; presided over the plea and sentencing.
• Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) — The Israeli-government-owned company for which Nozette had previously done paid contract work, establishing the predicate for the sting.

Official Response

The Justice Department was careful and explicit on a point that matters for this archive’s accuracy: the indictment does not allege that the government of Israel or anyone acting on its behalf committed any offense under U.S. law in this case. The DOJ named the case as one of attempted espionage by Nozette — the crime was his willingness to sell secrets to what he believed was a foreign intelligence service. No Israeli official or entity was charged, because the operation was run entirely by the FBI.

Nozette faced four counts of attempted espionage that carried a potential death sentence. Under a plea agreement, he pleaded guilty to a single count of attempted espionage in September 2011. The Justice Department and Nozette’s lawyers agreed to a 13-year prison term.

Consequences

On March 21, 2012, Stewart Nozette was sentenced to 13 years in prison. The sentence also resolved a separate set of charges to which he had pleaded guilty in January 2009 — fraud and tax evasion stemming from more than $265,000 in false claims he had submitted to the government. He received credit for the roughly two years already served since his 2009 arrest.

The case resulted in a clean federal conviction with no ambiguity about the central fact: a U.S. government scientist with extensive access to classified defense information attempted to sell that information to Israel.

Significance

The Nozette case is a clean, court-documented instance of a U.S. government insider with top-secret access attempting to sell American defense secrets to Israel — but its real value to this archive lies as much in what it does not show as in what it does. Because the operation was an FBI sting, the case proves Nozette’s willingness to spy for Israel without proving any Israeli action; the Justice Department itself was explicit that Israel was not alleged to have committed any offense. Handled honestly, this makes the case stronger rather than weaker as documentation: it shows a serious, recurring concern within the U.S. counterintelligence establishment — serious enough that the FBI built an elaborate sting around the premise that a cleared scientist with prior ties to an Israeli government company might sell secrets to Mossad — while scrupulously distinguishing that concern from proof of an actual operation. The predicate the FBI relied upon (Nozette’s prior paid work for an Israeli state-owned firm and his indicated willingness during it) is itself part of the documented record. The result is a conviction that belongs in any honest accounting of Israel-related espionage cases, presented with the same care the government used in charging it: a documented attempt, not a documented Israeli operation.

Sources

• U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, “Noted Scientist Pleads Guilty to Attempted Espionage,” September 7, 2011 — justice.gov
• U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, “Noted Scientist Sentenced to 13-Year Prison Term for Attempted Espionage, Fraud and Tax Charges,” March 21, 2012 — justice.gov
• NPR, “U.S. Scientist Pleads Guilty to Espionage Charge,” September 7, 2011
• NBC News / Associated Press, “Scientist Pleads Guilty in Espionage Case,” September 7, 2011
• RFE/RL, “U.S. Scientist Gets 13 Years in Espionage Case,” March 21, 2012
• United States v. Stewart David Nozette, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Senior Judge Paul L. Friedman)