Fifth Person Pleads Guilty to Illegally Accessing Confidential Passport Files

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A fifth individual pleaded
guilty today to illegally accessing numerous confidential passport application
files, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division
announced. Kevin M. Young, 42, of Temple Hills, Md., pleaded guilty before
U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Kay in the District of Columbia to a one-count
criminal information charging him with unauthorized computer access. Young is
scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 9, 2009.

According to court documents, Young has worked full-time for the State
Department since February 1987. For the past eight years, Young has been a
contact representative for the Passport Special Issuance Agency. In pleading
guilty, Young admitted he had access to official State Department computer
databases in the regular course of his employment, including the Passport
Information Electronic Records System (PIERS), which contains all imaged
passport applications dating back to 1994. The imaged passport applications on
PIERS contain, among other things, a photograph of the passport applicant as
well as certain personal information including the applicant's full name, date
and place of birth, current address, telephone numbers, parent information,
spouse's name and emergency contact information. These confidential files are
protected by the Privacy Act of 1974, and access by State Department employees
is strictly limited to official government duties.

In pleading guilty, Young admitted that between March 11, 2003, and Dec. 21,
2005, he logged onto the PIERS database and viewed the passport applications
of more than 125 celebrities, actors, comedians, professional athletes,
musicians, models, a politician and other individuals identified in the press.
Young admitted that he had no official government reason to access and view
these passport applications, but that his sole purpose in accessing and
viewing these passport applications was idle curiosity.

Young is the fifth current or former State Department employee to plead guilty
in this continuing investigation. On Sept. 22, 2008, Lawrence C. Yontz, a
former Foreign Service Officer and intelligence analyst, pleaded guilty to
unlawfully accessing nearly 200 confidential passport files. Yontz was
sentenced on Dec. 19, 2008, to 12 months of probation and ordered to perform
50 hours of community service. On Jan. 14, 2009, Dwayne F. Cross, a former
administrative assistant and contract specialist, pleaded guilty to unlawfully
accessing more than 150 confidential passport files. On March 23, 2009, Cross
was sentenced to 12 months of probation and ordered to perform 100 hours of
community service. On Jan. 27, 2009, Gerald R. Lueders, a former Foreign
Service Officer, watch officer and recruitment coordinator, pleaded guilty to
unlawfully accessing more than 50 confidential passport files. Lueders was
sentenced on July 8, 2009, to one year of probation and ordered to pay a
$5,000 fine. On July 10, 2009, William A. Celey, a file assistant, pleaded
guilty to unlawfully accessing more than 75 confidential passport files. Celey
is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 23, 2009.

These cases are being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Armando O. Bonilla of the
Criminal Division's Public Integrity Section, headed by Section Chief William
M. Welch II. The cases are being investigated by the State Department Office
of Inspector General.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

U. S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, +1-202-514-2008,
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