A 64-year-old State Department advisor with top-secret clearance was arrested for allegedly stashing over 1,000 pages of classified documents in his Virginia home.
Ashley Tellis, who also worked as a Pentagon contractor, appeared in federal court in Alexandria after investigators discovered classified materials in locked filing cabinets and trash bags in his basement.
Tellis held positions requiring the highest levels of trust, including access to Sensitive Compartmented Information.
According to prosecutors, Tellis accessed classified documents from secure facilities multiple times since beginning his State Department career in 2001. He allegedly altered filenames to print classified materials and concealed documents in his briefcase before leaving secured areas.
“Safeguarding our country’s national defense information is a top priority,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Sue J. Bai in a Department of Justice news release. She emphasized that those entrusted with sensitive information have “a privilege and solemn responsibility” to protect it.
FBI agents executed a search warrant at Tellis’s Vienna residence, recovering documents marked SECRET and TOP SECRET. The materials were stored in his basement home office and utility area.
“This arrest should serve as a stark warning to anyone thinking about undermining national security,” said FBI Counterintelligence Division Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky. He noted Tellis served as both a State Department senior advisor and a Defense Department contractor.
Tellis also holds a position as Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His security clearance granted him access to the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment, where he worked as a contractor.
The investigation involved the FBI Washington Field Office, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and the Classified State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service. Prosecutors from both the Eastern District of Virginia and the Justice Department’s National Security Division are handling the case.
Tellis faces charges of unlawful retention of national defense information. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty.