A former contract worker for Insitu pleaded not guilty in Federal Court last week to stealing a maintenance manual for top-secret UAS technology.
Stephen Marty Ward of Palmyra, Ind., is accused of duplicating or downloading the manual for an Insitu Inc. UAS while working as a technical writer, then offering to sell the information back for $400,000 after he was terminated.
He pleaded not guilty to theft of trade secrets Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Yakima, Wash. and was ordered to be held in custody pending trial.
Ward was employed by Corsair Engineering Inc. of Kirkland, Wash., and became a contract worker for Insitu on August 8, according to an affidavit filed with the indictment. He was terminated October 3.
According to the affidavit, two Corsair employees reported that Ward called one day after he was terminated, saying he had a substantial amount of data in his possession and that he “wanted a healthy settlement to go away and not make a fuss.”
Ward also said he was scheduling a trip abroad and that “other people were interested in the technology,” the affidavit said.
Insitu has a contract with the US Navy to design and test a specific unmanned aircraft system that is larger and more technologically advanced than the company’s ScanEagle, which has flown more than 500,000 combat flight hours for the US Department of Defense and other international customers.
Ward allegedly downloaded or copied a maintenance manual for the larger drone.
However, that manual contains information that is the culmination of years of research and development into both unmanned aircraft, and the incorporation of advanced technologies makes the manual significantly more valuable to Insitu, the affidavit said.
In a subsequent call, a Corsair executive offered Ward $300,000 in exchange for all Insitu documents in his possession. Ward countered with $400,000, and went to a restaurant in Floyds Knobs, Indiana for a $10,000 down payment on Nov. 10, according to the affidavit. Authorities arrested him that day.
An FBI spokeswoman declined comment. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and a federal defender assigned to Ward did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
“Insitu has safeguards in place to protect its people, proprietary data and property,” Insitu spokeswoman Jill Vacek said in a statement Friday. “We continue to cooperate fully with the FBI and federal prosecutors until the matter is resolved.”
Source: The Seattle Times