FILE - This March 18, 2013 file photo shows the home of civilian defense contractor Benjamin Pierce Bishop in Kapolei, Hawaii. The civilian defense contractor accused of giving military secrets to a Chinese girlfriend was expected to plead guilty his attorney said Tuesday March 11, 2014. An FBI affidavit in 2013 alleged the then-59-year-old gave his 27-year-old girlfriend classified information about war plans, nuclear weapons, missile defenses and other topics. (AP Photo/Oskar Garcia, File)
March 11, 2014 - 9:03 PM
HONOLULU, Hawaii - A civilian defence contractor accused of giving military secrets to a Chinese girlfriend half his age will be entering a guilty plea.
Benjamin Bishop is scheduled to enter the plea in Honolulu on Thursday.
His attorney Birney Bervar said Tuesday Bishop is expected to plead guilty to one count of transmitting national defence information to a person not entitled to receive it and one count of unlawfully retaining national defence documents and plans.
Bishop was arrested last March at the headquarters for the U.S. Pacific Command, where he worked.
An FBI affidavit last year alleged the then-59-year-old gave his 27-year-old girlfriend classified information about war plans, nuclear weapons, missile defences and other topics.
Bervar has said the two were in love and that the case was about love, not espionage.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014