MacDill laptop case ends with guilty plea

The theft disrupted U.S. Central Command until the computers were found at a home.

By DAVID BALLINGRUD, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 30, 2003

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TAMPA -- One after another, the government's witnesses described the chaos inside U.S. Central Command during the early morning of Aug. 2, when news of the missing computers began to spread.

CentCom was immediately "locked down," and a horde of investigators descended. Safes and locked file cabinets were ordered opened. Ceilings were torn open. People were told to stay put. The secretary of defense was briefed.

In a MacDill Air Force Base courtroom on Wednesday, the man who caused the uproar stood before military Judge Mary Boone and admitted stealing four laptops, two Palm devices and a carrying case for one of the Palm devices.

When Boone asked why he did it, Staff Sgt. Sheridan R. Ferrell II answered, "for personal use, your honor."

No further explanation was offered, and Air Force officials did not say if Ferrell wanted the computers or the data they contained.

In addition to the guilty pleas, Ferrell pleaded not guilty to a charge of stealing a computer hard drive, and the government dropped that charge without explanation.

Ferrell faces a maximum of 21 years in prison, dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and a reduction in rank, but the terms of a plea agreement he reached with the government were not disclosed Wednesday.

The four laptops, at least three of which contained classified information, were recovered Aug. 9, a week after they were reported missing. The other two that were recovered were never reported missing because, according to testimony Wednesday, CentCom didn't know they were gone. Government officials have said no classified information was compromised by the theft.

Lawyers for both sides declined to discuss the case Wednesday, and the Air Force would not release personal information about Ferrell.

Some information emerged from the testimony of witnesses, however.

Judge Boone must now make a sentencing recommendation to the courts-martial "convening authority," in this case Col. David Snyder. Snyder has broad power to reduce or even discard Boone's recommended sentence, but he cannot make it more harsh. Boone will hear more testimony and final arguments today.

Master Sgt. Russell J. Gratz told the court that he had gone to a "hail and farewell" party for departing CentCom personnel the night of Aug. 1, and came in the next morning to find his computer missing. He had been due to leave for his Texas home that day, he testified, but instead spent three more weeks in Tampa, helping in the investigation.

Access to the room where the computers were kept came from swiping a "green card" through a security system, Gratz testified, but a process called "tailgating" had compromised that procedure.

A tailgater follows closely into the room as another person swipes the security card, he said, thus creating no record of his entry.

More than 3,000 people could enter the Secure Compartmented Information Facility, testified Agent Charles Burgess of the Air Force Office of Special Investigation, and tailgating had become "a common practice at CentCom."

Nevertheless, an intensive questioning of 1,400 people eventually led to Ferrell, said Burgess, though it was not clear from Wednesday's testimony how this happened. Burgess declined to elaborate after his testimony.

He said Ferrell acknowledged taking two computers Aug. 2, and gave investigators permission to look for them in his house, about 10 miles from MacDill.

"We found them on the floor, their power cords wrapped around them," Burgess said.

They found other things, too, he said. Two more computers, which CentCom did not know were missing, and the two Palm devices with a carrying case. One of the Palm devices had been assigned to a top aide of Gen. Tommy R. Franks. Air Force officials have not discussed how Ferrell accomplished his thefts.

There was testimony Wednesday that he was having financial problems.

Ferrell has been held in pretrial confinement since his arrest Aug. 9. His lawyers appealed to the base commander for his release, but the request was denied.

Boone asked Ferrell if he had been "mistreated or ridiculed," while in custody, and he answered no. If eventually sentenced to prison, he will be given credit for time served, Boone said.

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