Chief Petty Officer Bryce Steven Pedicini sat in pre-trial confinement in San Diego on the day his charges became public. The Navy says the fire controlman from the destroyer USS Higgins passed classified defense information to a foreign national.
Stars and Stripes obtained the charge sheet in February 2024. It accuses Pedicini, of Tennessee, of handing the information to the person at least seven times between November 2022 and February 2023. The ship is based at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan.
What the charge sheet says
The Navy alleges that Pedicini first gave documents to a foreign national at Hampton Roads, Va., then tried to pass information at Yokosuka in May. He is also charged with failing to report contact with a foreign national. The sheet says he had reason to believe the documents “would be used to the injury of the United States and to the advantage of a foreign nation.”
It names the material only by labels such as “Article 1112” or “1223 Updates,” and says it related to national defense. Prosecutors also allege he tried to hand over photographs of a computer screen tied to the Defense Department network used to send classified information. The recipient is described only as a “citizen and employee of a foreign government.”
In all, the document lists seven allegations of espionage and one of attempted espionage, seven of communicating defense information, two of failing to obey a lawful order and two of violating a lawful general order.
Custody and court
Pedicini has been confined since May 19, and Cmdr. Arlo Abrahamson, a spokesman for Naval Surface Forces Pacific, said he was still held in San Diego on Wednesday. The case was referred to a general court-martial on Jan. 18 under that command’s authority. A motions hearing was scheduled in San Diego the same Wednesday, per the Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps trial docket.
Abrahamson described Pedicini as “suspected of mishandling classified documents and information.” In an email to Stars and Stripes he added: “The incident remains under investigation and legal proceedings continue.” USNI News first reported the charges.
The sailor
As a fire controlman, Pedicini would have worked on everything from radars, fire control systems and computer systems to the Navy’s most advanced missile system, Aegis, the Navy’s own description of the job says. He enlisted in January 2008 and served aboard the destroyers USS Curtis Wilbur and USS McFaul before the Higgins.
His decorations include three Good Conduct Medals, two Navy “E” Ribbons, two Sea Service Deployment Ribbons, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and the Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist pin.
