SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A Texas County, Mo., man has been indicted with two counts of willful transmission of national defense information. The indictment was returned by a Springfield grand jury under seal and was made public today after the arrest and initial appearance of the defendant.

Seth Chambers, 35, a former United States Marine Corps. Intelligence Analyst, was employed as a civilian contractor and stationed in Iraq during the time frame alleged in the indictment. The indictment goes on state that, as part of his duties, he held a security clearance that authorized him to view classified material up to a TOP SECRET level and therefore had access to national defense and classified information.

According to court documents, on two separate occasions, the defendant willfully transmitted SECRET level documents to two separate individuals who were not entitled or authorized to receive it. The first transmission occurred on Dec. 10, 2022, when the defendant transmitted a white paper containing verbatim and near verbatim excerpts from classified U.S. government documents and was sent to an individual in Maryland. The second transmission of a document containing verbatim and near verbatim excerpts from classified U.S. government documents occurred on April 20, 2023, and was sent to an individual believed to be in the People's Republic of China.

The charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

If convicted, under federal statutes, Chambers is subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole on each count. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Kelleher and Trial Attorneys Nicolas Hunter and Sean O'Dowd of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section. It was investigated by FBI Springfield Field Office.