Maryland Federal Contractor Faces Charges for Leaking Classified National Defense Information to Reporter

A federal grand jury has indicted Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones, a 61-year-old resident of Laurel, Maryland, on charges of unlawfully transmitting and retaining classified national defense information. The indictment details allegations that Perez-Lugones, who previously faced charges via a criminal complaint for retention of national defense information, accessed, copied, and disseminated classified reports during his employment.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, Perez-Lugones is charged with five counts of unlawfully transmitting classified national defense information and one count of unlawfully retaining such information. These alleged actions occurred between October 2025 and January 2026. The indictment claims that Perez-Lugones repeatedly accessed classified reports, printed or otherwise copied the information, and removed these materials from a secure facility where he worked. This information was subsequently transmitted to an unauthorized individual identified as Reporter 1, who then co-authored at least five news articles that contained the classified information, leading to its public dissemination. The articles in question were reportedly published on October 31, 2025, November 11, 2025, December 8, 2025, January 6, 2026, and January 9, 2026.

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The investigation, which involved federal authorities including the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, the Attorney General, the FBI, and the FBI’s Washington Field Office, uncovered further details regarding Perez-Lugones’s alleged activities. On January 8, 2026, federal search warrants were authorized for Perez-Lugones’s residence and vehicle in Laurel, as well as other locations. During these searches, investigators reportedly discovered multiple documents marked as “SECRET.” A lunch box found in his car contained a “SECRET” document, and another “SECRET” document related to national defense was found in his basement.

Furthermore, the indictment alleges that since at least October 2025, Perez-Lugones had unauthorized access to databases containing classified information, including classified intelligence reports and summaries. He is accused of accessing these reports, some related to a foreign country and classified as Top Secret, and using methods such as taking screenshots and pasting them into Microsoft Word documents to obscure his unauthorized review. Authorities also reportedly observed Perez-Lugones viewing and printing national defense information in his cubicle on January 8, 2026, and agents later found that he had removed his name from document headers before leaving his workplace. The indictment also states that on January 8, Perez-Lugones transmitted photographs of classified documents and subsequently communicated with Reporter 1 via an encrypted messaging application, stating, “I’m going quiet for a bit . . . just to see if anyone starts asking questions.”

Reporter 1 is believed to be Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson, but the Department of Justice did not release the name of the reporter in question. Natanson’s home was raided by the FBI on January 9, 2026 as part of the investigation into Perez-Lugones, according to The Dissenter.

Looking at search results involving articles published on those dates, it is suspected that the articles in question include “U.S. Park Police seeks hundreds more officers amid Trump’s crime crackdown” published on October 31, 2025, “If Trump attacked Venezuela, these sites could become targets” published on November 11, 2025, and an exclusive report on the Capture of Nicolás Maduro published on January 9. However, the Department of Justice did not release a definitive list.

Perez-Lugones has worked as a government contractor in various capacities since 2002, most recently as a systems engineer and information technology specialist for a government contracting company. He held a Top-Secret security clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information. The government had entrusted him with access to classified and national defense information since his time as a member of the U.S. Navy and as a government contractor.

Individuals charged by indictment are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. If convicted of the charges, Perez-Lugones faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison for each count of retention and transmission of national defense information. Sentencing decisions are determined by a federal district court judge, who considers the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has commended the FBI Washington Field Office for their investigative efforts and has acknowledged the Assistant U.S. Attorneys and Trial Attorneys prosecuting the case.

Article by Ken Buckler, based upon information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Maryland

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