Sharon Man Pleads Guilty To Stealing National Defense Information

SHARON, MA — A former Raytheon systems engineer from Sharon has pleaded guilty to federal charges that he stole national defense information and kept it unsecured in his home. Ahmedelhadi Yassin Serageldin, 66, an Egyptian-born nationalized U.S. citizen, admitted to keeping the classified national defense information after an FBI investigation found thousands of paper documents or electronic files belonging to Raytheon or the U.S. Department of Defense during a warrant search of his home, according to court documents.

Serageldin, who worked at Raytheon from 1997 to 2017 with secret-level security clearance in order to work on projects involving military radar technology, was being investigated for time-card fraud when Raytheon said it uncovered evidence that he had improperly downloaded a substantial amount of files from Raytheon's computer network using electronic devices connected to company computers, according to court documents. Court documents said Serageldin then hindered the company's investigation into both the time-card fraud violation and the improper taking of files in an effort to prevent a law-enforcement investigation.

Serageldin pleaded guilty before Chief United States District Judge Patti B. Saris on Friday. At the plea hearing, the prosecutor said that federal agents executing a search warrant found thousands of paper documents and electronic files belonging to Raytheon or the U.S. Department of Defense, and that many of them were marked as containing classified information. Five of those documents dealing with U.S. military programs as classified at the "secret" level.

Serageldin faces up to 10 years in prison on the charge. He was originally indicted on an obstruction of justice charge last November. As part of the plea, that charged will be dismissed at the time of his sentencing on April 14.