Fourth Person Pleads Guilty to Illegally Accessing Confidential Passport Files

WASHINGTON, July 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A fourth individual pleaded
guilty today to illegally accessing numerous confidential passport application
files, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division
announced. William A. Celey, 27, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty before
U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson in the District of Columbia to a
one-count criminal information charging him with unauthorized computer access.

According to court documents, from August 2003 through July 2004, Celey worked
as a contract employee for the State Department as a file assistant. According
to plea documents, Celey 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, Celey admitted that between June 22, 2004, and July 15,
2004, he logged onto the PIERS database and viewed the passport applications
of more than 75 celebrities and their families, actors, models, musicians,
athletes, record producers, family members, a politician and other individuals
identified in the press. Celey 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.

Celey is the fourth 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. 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

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