Page 6 - aruba-today-20190525

A6 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 25 May 2019
Navy: Sailor contacted Russians, pleads guilty to espionage

By JULIE WATSON bers," FBI Special Agent in
Associated Press Charge Garrett Waugh
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A U.S. said in a statement.
sailor has pleaded guilty Kellogg admitted to tell-
to two counts of espio- ing his roommate that he
nage and was sentenced planned to defect to Rus-
to three years after admit- sia and had searched the
ting he took classified infor- Internet for information re-
mation about the Navy's lating to flights to Moscow,
nuclear-powered warships contact information for the
and planned to give it to a Russian Consulate in San
journalist and then defect Diego, and wrote to an
to Russia, officials said Fri- email address associated
day. with Sevmash and called
U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd the company six times. It
Class Stephen Kellogg III is unclear if the shipbuilder
wished to publish an ex- wrote back.
pose on waste within the Around the same time, he
military and admitted he told a childhood friend that
wanted to share the infor- he wanted to get out of the
mation with Russians, said Navy and that I "might go
Jeff Houston of the Naval Ed Snowden," referring to
Criminal Investigative Ser- In this March 5, 2018, file photo, a Vietnamese passenger boat sails past U.S. aircraft carrier USS the former National Secu-
vice in an email to The As- Carl Vinson as it docks in Danang bay, Vietnam. rity Agency contractor who
sociated Press. Associated Press exposed U.S. government
According to Navy court surveillance programs by
documents, Kellogg, 26, logg, on Aug. 27 for drunk- vestigators and court doc- nuclear propulsion systems. disclosing classified mate-
was in contact with Sev- en disorderly conduct uments. He served aboard the USS rial.
mash, Russia's largest ship- at the San Diego airport Kellogg knew if the informa- Carl Vinson from 2016 to Though Kellogg pleaded
building enterprise and where he was stopped by tion became public, poten- 2018 and said he could guilty to two counts of vio-
only nuclear submarine a Delta Air Lines employee tial adversaries would likely draw and explain the ma- lating the Espionage Act,
producer. He admitted he from boarding a flight to know the capabilities and jority of the ship's critical his military defense attor-
knew releasing the infor- New York City because limitations of the United nuclear propulsion plant neys told the judge at Na-
mation could degrade the he was being belligerent, States' nuclear-powered systems from memory, ac- val Base San Diego before
ability of nuclear-powered according to court docu- warships, according to his cording to court docu- his sentencing that he was
warships, and therefore ments. pre-trial agreement. ments. not a spy but rather had a
cause injury to the United He had bought a one- Kellogg, who joined the "This sailor's attempts to drinking problem and may
States. way ticket and planned Navy in 2014, was a nucle- disclose classified Navy have been suffering from
Neither Kellogg nor his law- to meet a friend from high ar electrician's mate with nuclear propulsion infor- depression.
yers could be immediately school who is a journalist access to classified infor- mation posed a significant People who know Kellogg,
reached for comment. who lives in New York City mation relating to the ca- threat to national security they said, described him as
Authorities learned of his and told the person he had pabilities, operations and and endangered the lives harmless and someone just
plans after arresting Kel- a big story, according to in- maintenance of the Navy's of American service mem- trying to get attention. q

3 injured in fire that destroyed

Nebraska fertilizer plant

and contained the fire just The injured semitrailer driv- essary. Hastings residents
before 4 a.m. Friday. ers were treated and re- with health conditions that
The blaze forced authori- leased from a hospital, the could be exasperated by
ties to close U.S. Highway 6 Hastings Tribune reported. smoke were urged to keep
for several hours. A release No firefighters were injured. their windows closed and
from the Adams County Hansen said the plant was air conditioners off Friday.
Emergency Management already fully engulfed in "We're waiting for the
office says railroad tracks flames when firefighters ar- smoke to clear to use a
just north of the plant also rived. Three other depart- drone to fly over and see
The Cooperative Producers Inc. dry fertilizer plant near U.S.
Hwy 6 and Showboat Blvd. in Hastings, Neb., burns Thursday, were closed for a time be- ments from nearby towns pictures of the inside," Han-
May 23, 2019. fore being reopened. were called in to help fight sen said. The CPI plant
Associated Press The Nebraska Fire Mar- the huge blaze. opened last year with
shal's office said in a news "We were utilizing every hy- plans for storage capacity
HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — A The fire was reported release late Friday after- drant we could," Hansen of 42,000 tons of product.
lightning strike at a Nebras- about 11:30 p.m. Thurs- noon that an investiga- said. The preliminary damage
ka fertilizer plant set off a day at the Cooperative tion showed the fire was Firefighters considered estimate for the building is
large fire that injured three Producers Inc. dry fertilizer sparked by a lightning evacuating nearby mobile $14 million. The damage to
truck drivers sleeping in the plant in Hastings, about strike. homes, but a shift in the products inside the build-
parking lot and destroyed 160 miles (257 kilometers) Fire Chief Bob Hansen said wind blew heavy smoke ing is estimated at another
the unoccupied factory, west of Omaha. Crews no one was in the building away from them and $5 million, according to
officials said Friday. worked most of the night when the fire happened. made evacuation unnec- the fire marshal's office.q