NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Updated: Monday, February 6, 2017, 11:39 PM

Federal prosecutors seeking an indictment against a former National Security Agency contractor accused of stealing top secret information and hacking into government networks may happen as early as this week.

Harold Thomas Martin III, 52, is expected to be charged with violating the Espionage Act by taking classified data, NSA hacking tools and plans against a known enemy of the U.S., sources familiar with the investigation told The Washington Post.

The charges could land him a prison sentence of 30 years to life, prosecutors said. They argue Martins actions of removing classified material have been damaging to national security.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Myers said Martin took many thousands of pages of classified information and more than 50 terabytes of highly sensitive data, the Post reported.

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Martins lawyers defended him as a patriot who had no intentions of harming his country.

"This is the behavior of a compulsive hoarder who could not stop gathering and possessing the documents he treasured, defense attorney James Wyda said, according to the newspaper.

The FBI discreetly arrested Thomas at his Glen Burnie, Md. home on Aug. 29 and has since been held at a detention facility.

Investigators found hard-copy documents and digital information stored on multiple devices that were marked as U.S. government property, a criminal complaint states.

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Martin, a former Navy lieutenant, worked for the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton the same company that employed whistleblower Edward Snowden, who leaked classified NSA information in 2013.

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Ex-NSA contractor may be indicted as early as this week - NY Daily ... - New York Daily News