The U.S. Department of Justice said a former general manager for a U.S. defense contractor has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison for selling his employer’s trade secrets to a Russian cyber-tools broker.
Peter Williams, 39, an Australian national, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to 87 months in prison. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Ali Khan ordered Williams to serve three years of supervised release, to forfeit a monetary judgment of $1.3 million, as well as cryptocurrency and property. A restitution hearing has been set for May 12, 2026.
“Williams exploited his senior role at a U.S. defense contractor to enrich himself at the expense of the United States and his employer,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said. “The tools he compromised were intended to protect this Nation; instead, he auctioned them off to a Russian bidder. We are committed to ensuring that those who abuse their access to sensitive information and thereby harm our national security face severe consequences.”
Williams pleaded guilty on Oct. 29 of last year to two counts of theft of trade secrets. As part of a plea agreement, Williams admitted he stole eight cyber-exploit components over a three-year period from his defense contractor employer. The national-security focused software was meant to be sold exclusively to the U.S. government and select allies, but Williams admitted he sold the trade secrets to a Russian cyber-tools broker in exchange for up to $4 million in cryptocurrency payments, which he used to by luxury vacations, jewelry, clothing, properties and other valuable items.
“Peter Williams stole a U.S. defense contractor’s trade secrets about highly sensitive cyber capabilities and sold them to a broker whose clients include the Russian government, putting our national security and countless potential victims at risk,” Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. “The FBI and our partners remain unwavering in our commitment to protecting America’s critical technologies, and we will ensure any who attempt to profit at our nation’s expense face the full weight of the criminal justice system. Let this be a clear warning to all who consider placing greed over country: If you betray your position of trust and sell sensitive American technology to our foreign adversaries, the FBI will not rest until you’re brought to justice.”
Williams admitted his actions cost his employer a financial loss of $35 million dollars, and had a significant impact on his employer’s customers, including the U.S. government and allied government customers.
In issuing her sentence today District Court Judge AliKhan said, “Theft of trade secrets from a company that sells national security-focused cyber and intelligence software to the U.S. government and allied governments necessarily implicates national security, and Mr. Williams indeed acknowledges that his actions caused harm to the intelligence communities, both in the U.S. and Australia.”