Clearance Applicant’s Tip-Off Leads to Blown Drug Investigation

Anyone who has access to information involving criminal investigations is beholden to protect it, just as they would be required to if it was classified. In a recent Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals (DOHA) case, the applicant was initially denied eligibility due to criminal and personal conduct concerns that resulted in a blown illegal drug ring investigation. Here are the highlights of the appeal.

In 2019 the applicant worked as a contractor for a federal agency that was conducting surveillance on a criminal organization using wiretaps on targeted phones. The applicant happened to run across information detailing the names and phone numbers of the ones under surveillance and recognized one of the names as belonging to his long-time friend. He subsequently told his friend he was under investigation and that his phone was being tapped. That resulted in the investigation being compromised and blown with no arrests made.

It was later found out that the applicant had warned his friend, in violation of non-disclosure agreements, and as a result he was eventually charged and convicted of a felony offense. He was sentenced to one year in federal prison and one year probation. Although the applicant was forthright at the hearing about his conduct and that he had completed all sentencing requirements, the DOHA judge in this case noted that the applicant, by tipping off his friend, had interfered with a criminal investigation and put his friend’s welfare above that of the United States Government – clearance eligibility denied.