By Rick Rogers
DefenseTracker.com

Maj. Mark Lowe sounded relieved. The rangy, 46-year-old Marine helicopter pilot turned intelligence officer had just pleaded guilty to allowing national intelligence to flow unimpeded from Camp Pendleton to civilian law enforcement in Los Angeles County between 2004 and 2006.

In quiet voice, Lowe told Marine Corps judge Lt. Col. Peter Rubin he hadn't tried to stop fellow reservists, including a full-bird colonel, from passing stolen state secrets to the Los Angeles Terrorism Early Warning Group or prevent them from using government computer networks to obtain domestic files from an intelligence analyst working at the U.S. Northern Command.

"He was the former Strategic Technical Operations chief, if the colonel thought he needed access … who was I get in his way?" Lowe told Rubin.

The "he" Lowe is talking about is Col. Larry Richards, the central figure in the case that prosecutors claim revolved around the organized theft of documents from an intelligence post on the Marine base.

FBI agents have found classified documents in Richards' possession dating back years, according to FBI testimony and sources close to the case.

Richards served as a top intelligence officer at the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force under Gen. James Conway, now Marine Corps commandant, from roughly 2002 to 2004. Gen. James Mattis, now head of the U.S. Joint Forces Command, replaced Conway before leaving himself in 2007.

Naval Criminal Investigative Services agents have questioned Conway and Mattis about their knowledge of top-shelf intelligence going to the Los Angeles TEW. Both have denied knowing or approving such an information-sharing arrangement.

But two sources with knowledge of the Camp Pendleton intelligence breach investigation tell DefenseTracker that witnesses exist who might call those assertions into question. They say that Marine prosecutors are under great pressure to convict Richards without implicating Conway or Mattis or "those much, much higher" and without highlighting the role played by Lauren Martin, a Booz Allen Hamilton intelligence analyst at the U.S. Northern Command and a Navy reserve commander.

As a civilian working for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Richards co-founded the TEW, a now defunct collection of local, state and federal agencies that monitored potential terrorist activities in Los Angeles County. It was an open secret that Richards routinely took and directed and others to take documents to help TEW cases, Lowe has testified.

"I believe I should have known that he (Richards) assigned taskers for unofficial business," Lowe said. "I should have known that he was using this information for his civilian job. He would talk about the cases and the TEW."

Lowe said he looked the other way when Richards accessed the Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network, the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network and the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System after the colonel no longer merited access to those networks.

JWICS is a system of computer networks used by the Defense Department and the State Department to transmit classified information cleared up to top secret and sensitive compartmented information.

In day-to-day usage, the JWICS is used primarily by the intelligence community, with SIPRNet and NIPRNet comprising the overwhelming bulk of usage within the Defense Department.

Lowe also admitted to knowing that at least one other Marine used Richards' passwords to obtain information from classified government networks that was then emailed, faxed or physically passed to TEW members. This password sharing violated security regulations, as did the unauthorized sharing of sensitive files.

But it was Lowe's sworn statement that he sent specific requests for information on Richards' behalf to the U.S. Northern Command that stood out to those who have closely followed the case. The Northern Command is responsible for monitoring terrorist activity in the United States.

Since the Bush administration, civil rights groups have worried that the U.S. military's expanding stateside intelligence-gathering programs are pushing the limits of the Posse Comitatus Act, which limits the roles the military can play in domestic law enforcement.

After the court hearing, defense attorney Capt. Joseph Grimm confirmed that Lowe had sent one or more requests to Martin at the U.S. Northern Command and that Martin responded with information.

This squares with unclassified NCIS files obtained by DefenseTracker in which Richards said he approached Martin after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 to set up an information sharing system to protect the greater Los Angeles County area.

What the alleged information was that Martin allegedly sent, where it came from and who - if anyone -- authorized it are all questions likely to go wanting for answers for at least the foreseeable future.

Marine Corps prosecutors have told DefenseTracker that the Navy and the Justice Department officials have refused to charge Martin in the case or allow them to question her. They believe the chances that she'll ever publicly disclose in a Marine courtroom what she allegedly sent Richards is extremely slim.

"We can't charge her because she belongs to the Navy. The Navy isn't interested in charging her and neither is the Department of Justice," said a prosecutor in the case.

The Navy has not responded to a long-standing query about possible charges against Martin.

The 46-year-old Lowe now faces a maximum 3 ½ years in prison, dismissal from the service, forfeiture of pay and allowances and letter of reprimand under his plea agreement. Rubin will sentence Lowe in mid May. Under the plea bargain, Rubin will announce the punishment he deems just before opening the sealed pre-trial agreement. Lowe will then receive the lesser of the two sentences.

Under the 17-page pre-trial agreement, Lowe agrees to testify against Richards, retired Marine Col. David Litaker, a Los Angeles Police Department officer, and whoever else is charged. Litaker worked in the intelligence office with Richards, Lowe and others, and took over as intelligence chief when Richards left.

Marine authorities first caught wind of the intelligence breach in late 2006 when former Marine Gunnery Sgt. Gary Maziarz was arrested for stealing government property and possessing more then 100 classified documents. During a subsequent investigation, seven people were implicated, including Richards, Lowe and Martin, who worked at the U.S. Northern Command as a domestic intelligence analyst responsible for Southern California.

Lowe is the only officer court-martialed so far in the case. Richards' case is set for a court hearing in May.

Three senior enlisted Marines have been convicted in the intelligence breach and have served time or are awaiting sentencing.

Where the cases stand:
In October 2009, Master Sgt. Reinaldo Pagan was acquitted of four specifications of dereliction of duty while serving as the senior staff non-commissioned officer of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force Information Operations Cell at Camp Pendleton.

He was also acquitted of one specification of violation dereliction of duty for improperly handling and safeguarding classified materials.

He was found guilty of one specification of dereliction of duty for willfully failing to prevent the sharing of passwords on unclassified and classified government computer systems; one specification of violation of making a false statement. He was also found guilty of three specifications of violating federal criminal laws for unlawfully removing and retaining classified materials at an unauthorized location; unlawful possession of a stolen firearm and for wrongful possession of a machine gun.

He was sentenced to reduction in rank to gunnery sergeant, 60 days confinement and a fine of $597.

* Col. Larry J. Richards has been recalled to active duty and faces conspiracy, dereliction of duty and conduct unbecoming of an officer charges in addition to the wrongful transmission, retention and/or use of classified material. ??

* Maj. Mark Lowe was charged in July 2009 with conspiracy, dereliction of duty, conduct unbecoming an officer and wrongful handling of national defense documents. He pleaded guilty in March dereliction of duty and conduct unbecoming an officer and faces sentencing in May.

* Gunnery Sgt. Eric Froboese pled guilty in June 2009 to dereliction of duty, disobeying regulations and conspiracy and is awaiting sentencing. He is expected to testify in future cases if called upon. ??

* Gary Maziarz was convicted at a general court-martial in 2007 and spent 24 months in the Camp Pendleton brig as part of a plea bargain deal. He is also expected if called upon in future trials.