FBI technician guilty of unlawfully accessing FBI's computer system
FBI legal technician pleads guilty to unlawfully accessing the FBI's computer system
Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray of
the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Roscoe C. Howard of the
District of Columbia announced today that Narissa Smalls, a legal
technician in FBI Headquarters, was sentenced to 12 months in prison
today on charges stemming from her unlawful access of the FBI's
Automated Case Support (ACS) computer system.
Smalls, sentenced this afternoon by U.S. District Court Judge Gladys
Kessler of the District of Columbia, pleaded guilty to the felony
charges in December 2003 and resigned from the FBI as part of her plea
agreement.
Smalls was assigned to the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Unit
in FBI Headquarters, and her duties included searching ACS for
information in response to FOIA requests and for other administrative
purposes. Smalls admitted that between September 2002 and November
2002, she conducted several searches in ACS for information regarding
individuals who were subjects of ongoing drug investigations in the
FBI's Washington Field Office. In one instance, she printed out the
information and took it to her residence. Smalls admitted she then
shared the results of her ACS searches with individuals who were
associated with the subjects of the FBI's drug investigations.
The case was investigated by the Department of Justice, Office of the
Inspector General, and the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Acting
Deputy Chief Raymond Hulser and Trial Attorney Sabrina Houlton of the
Public Integrity Section of the United States Department of Justice,
headed by Section Chief Noel Hillman, with assistance from the United
States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.
