Posted on 04/23/2007 10:24:35 AM PDT by AuntB
A former engineer at the nation's largest nuclear power plant has been charged with taking computer access codes and software to Iran and using it to download details of plant control rooms and reactors, authorities said.
The FBI said there's no indication the plant employee had any terrorist connections.
Mohammad Alavi, who worked at the triple-reactor Palo Verde power plant west of Phoenix, was arrested April 9 at Los Angeles International Airport when he arrived on a flight from Iran, authorities said.
Alavi, 49, is a U.S. citizen and denies any wrongdoing, said his attorney, Milagros Cisneros of the Federal Defender's Office in Phoenix.
He is charged with a single count of violating a trade embargo that prohibits Americans from exporting goods and services to Iran. If convicted, he would face up to 21 months in prison.
According to court records, the software is used only for training plant employees, but allowed users access to details on the Palo Verde control rooms and the plant layout. In October, authorities alleged, the software was used to download training materials from Tehran, using a Palo Verde user identification.
The FBI said there was no evidence to suggest the software access was linked to the Iranian government, which has clashed with the West over attempts to develop its own nuclear program.
"The investigation has not led us to believe this information was taken for the purpose of being used by a foreign government or terrorists to attack us," said Deborah McCarley, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Phoenix.
Officials of Arizona Public Service Co., the Phoenix-based utility company that operates the Palo Verde Nuclear Generation Station, said the software does not pose a security risk because it doesn't control any of the nuclear plant's operating systems.
However, the utility said it has changed software security procedures since Alavi quit in August after working there for 16 years.
"The health and safety of the public was never compromised and there was no threat to the security of Palo Verde," APS spokesman Jim McDonald said Saturday.
A federal judge in Phoenix denied him bail at a hearing on Friday, saying Alavi had more ties to Iran than the United States and could easily flee. Alavi, who was born in Tehran, has family, a house and a job lined up in Iran, Judge Neil Wake said.
Palo Verde has been plagued by outages and equipment problems for the past several years.
The plant, located about 50 miles west of downtown Phoenix, supplies electricity to some 4 million customers in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and California.
Fine job USCIS is doing vetting 'new citizens'.
One of the many things I want to know about this story is why he has a public defender when he just deposited $98,000 in his bank account.
Pfft...!
They use our country like a milk cow. He and his family have no loyalty to the United States except as a bolt hole in case things go south in Iran, which they will. This guy’s citizenship should be taken away.
He was probably one of the thousands of applicants that never got a review. USCIS admits they issued citizenship to many they didn't vet the file on and that they can't even find the files.
ping
The FBI said there was no evidence to suggest the software access was linked to the Iranian government
And my ass has 3 horizontal cracks.
LOL!
Something is in the water causing stupidity. America is in great peril.
A couple of reasons
It’s SOP to give a public defender to the accused so that they can question him. Then if he chooses and can afford it he can get his own lawyer.
It’s done because of the Miranda Warning.
His bank funds may be frozen.
"There is no evidence, there is no evidence, there is no evidence, there is no evidence, there is no evidence, there is no evidence," that's their story and they're sticking to it.
Put him in jail with a known “abuser” and soften him up a bit!
You got that right!
The Arizona Republic has a good follow up on this story today but we can’t post from that site.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.