A federal grand jury indicted a Maryland man on Thursday, accusing him of sneaking classified documents out of a secure government facility and handing them over to a reporter.
Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones, 61, of Laurel, Maryland, is facing serious federal charges. Prosecutors say he stole national defense secrets and leaked them to the press. He is charged with five counts of illegally passing on classified information and one count of keeping secrets he wasn’t supposed to have.
“Illegally disclosing classified defense information is a grave crime against America that puts both our national security and the lives of our military heroes at risk,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said. “This Department of Justice will remain ever-vigilant in protecting the integrity of America’s classified intelligence.”
According to the indictment, the leaks took place between October 2025 and January 2026.
Perez-Lugones worked as a systems engineer and IT specialist for a government contracting company. Because of his job, he had a Top-Secret security clearance and worked inside a SCIF—a special facility designed to keep secrets safe.
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Investigators say Perez-Lugones accessed classified intelligence reports, some involving a foreign country, without any valid reason. To hide his tracks, he allegedly took screenshots of the secret reports and pasted them into Microsoft Word documents. He then printed the files and removed them from the secure building.
The Washington Post connection
The indictment states that Perez-Lugones gave these documents to Washington Post journalist Hannah Natanson.
Using the stolen files, Natanson co-wrote at least five articles published between October 31, 2025, and January 9, 2026. These stories made the classified details public.
The “Lunchbox” discovery
Authorities closed in on Perez-Lugones on January 8, 2026. On that day, agents watched him at work as he printed national defense information at his cubicle. They noted that he removed his name from the headers of the papers before taking them.
Later that day, federal agents searched his home and car. Inside his vehicle, they found a lunchbox containing a document marked “SECRET.” They found another secret document hidden in the basement of his house.
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Investigators also found evidence of a text message Perez-Lugones sent to the reporter via an encrypted app. “I’m going quiet for a bit . . . just to see if anyone starts asking questions,” he wrote.
“Protecting our country’s secrets is essential to the safety of our most sensitive intelligence, military, and law enforcement operations,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. He added that the FBI will “aggressively investigate” anyone who undermines national security.
Darren B. Cox, of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, described the actions as a “brazen betrayal.”
If convicted, Perez-Lugones faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for each count of retention and transmission of national defense information.
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