A retired Air Force sergeant, arrested last night on espionage charges as he tried to board a plane for Switzerland, made his first court appearance in Alexandria federal court this afternoon.
Brian P. Regan, 38, had access to classified information as a government contractor assigned to the National Reconnaissance Office, which runs the nation's spy satellites, the U.S. Attorney's office said.
Regan joined the Air Force in 1980 and was assigned to intelligence at the Pentagon in 1995. After his retirement from the Air Force in August 2000, he went to work in the private sector and was recently assigned to the NRO's office in Chantilly.
Regan was arrested last night by the FBI at Dulles International Airport as he was going through a security checkpoint to take a Lufthansa flight to Zurich via Frankfurt. His home in Bowie, Md., and his automobile were both searched, the U.S. Attorney's office said.
The details of the alleged espionage, including the foreign country involved, have not been made public. But outside the courthouse this afternoon, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Melson spoke briefly about the charges against Regan.
"Mr. Regan conspired to transmit classified U.S. national defense information to a person or persons he knew was working for a foreign government with the intent to aid that foreign government and bring injury to United States," Melson said.
Regan was charged with conspiracy to commit espionage at the afternoon hearing. Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge W. Curtis Sewell, he responded "no" when asked if he had an attorney and said "no" again when asked if he could hire an attorney. Federal prosecutors asked that Regan be held without bond, and the judge agreed. A hearing was set for Wednesday.
While the details of Regan's alleged spying have not been made public, sources said that the alleged damage involved in this case does not approach the devastation wreaked by recently convicted spy Robert P. Hanssen, a former FBI counterintelligence agent who was arrested in February and pleaded guilty last month.
Washington Post researcher Margot Williams and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
