The trial of a Navy chief petty officer accused of espionage is underway, kicking off in San Diego on Tuesday, court documents and service officials confirmed.
Chief Petty Officer Bryce Steven Pedicini, a fire controlman, is alleged to have committed espionage aboard the destroyer USS Higgins in Virginia and while in Japan, and was charged in January with the wrongful communication of defense information and disobeying lawful orders. The court-martial is set to run through April 19, according to the Navy's online docket.
Cmdr. Arlo Abrahamson, a spokesman for the Navy's Pacific Fleet, noted to Military.com in an email that Pedicini “has only military counsel and has elected trial by a judge.”
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Records provided by the Navy in February showed that Pedicini was last assigned to the Higgins, which is homeported in Japan, but has been in pre-trial confinement since May.
Pedicini is accused of delivering two sets of classified national defense documents — which are named only as “Article 1112” and “Article 1223” — to “a citizen and employee of a foreign government” between November 2022 and February 2023 in Hampton Roads, Virginia, according to the charging documents.
The charging documents allege Pedicini broke up the two documents and delivered them both over several instances.
The charges also allege Pedicini provided “images…
