Internet access prolongs jail for alleged passer of secrets

A former civilian defense worker accused of passing national defense secrets to his Chinese girlfriend will have to wait a little longer for his release from custody pending trial.

Benjamin Pierce Bishop, 59, is charged with giving classified national security information to someone not authorized to have it — his girlfriend, a 27-year-old Chinese national in the United States on a student visa — and for keeping classified documents in his Makakilo home.

Bishop is not charged with espionage because the FBI is not alleging that the girlfriend passed on the information to a foreign government.

A trial has not been scheduled.

U.S. District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi told Bishop last month that she will grant his release as soon as space becomes available at Mahoney Hale, a halfway house in Iwilei for federal pretrial defendants.

Defense lawyer Birney Bervar told Kobayashi bed space became available Tuesday.

Bishop now has to wait until Mahoney Hale installs an Internet password system for its computers.

That’s because one of the conditions Kobayashi imposed Tuesday for Bishop’s release is that he not have access to the Internet. Mahoney Hale has a computer room with Internet access for residents.

Federal prosecutor Kenneth Sorenson told Kobayashi that when he visited the halfway house recently, he found the computer room empty and easily accessible to any of the residents.

Koba­yashi is also prohibiting Bishop from contacting his girlfriend, possessing a mobile phone, and going to Honolulu Airport, any sea port or military installation.

The judge also said Bishop may not leave Mahoney Hale except to attend court hearings, visit his doctor or lawyer, or attend church. He must be accompanied by his lawyer or pastor when he is not in the halfway house and court officials will monitor his movements using a global positioning device.

He must post a $100,000 secured bond within seven days of his release, $10,000 of it in cash. If he violates any of his release conditions, he forfeits the entire bond.

Bishop was working for a defense contractor at U.S. Pacific Command at Camp Smith when he was arrested on March 15 and fired. He had previously worked at USPACOM, which is responsible for the country’s military security in the Pacific, as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve.

Gen. Anthony Crutchfield, USPACOM chief of staff, said Bishop is an expert in cybersecurity, defensive cyber-techniques and U.S. defense operational requirements and capability gaps.