Decisions were issued on: - Personnel Security
Office of Hearings and Appeals
February 12, 2021
minute read time
Personnel Security Hearing
Personnel Security: Access Authorization Not Granted; Guideline F (Financial Considerations); Guideline J (Criminal Conduct); Bond Amendment
On February 12, 2021, an Administrative Judge (AJ) determined that an Individual's access authorization under 10 C.F.R. Part 710 should not be granted. The Individual has thirteen outstanding collection accounts, one outstanding charge-off account, outstanding obligations in connection with two repossessed vehicles, and owes an unknown amount in federal income taxes. With regard to criminal conduct, the Individual was arrested in 2012 in connection with an outstanding warrant, was issued a speeding citation in 2005, charged with Driving Under the Influence in 1991, and, after pleading guilty for his involvement in the sexual assault of a minor, was sentenced to a term of eighteen months in federal prison in 1984.
The Individual presented no credible evidence that he has resolved any of his outstanding debts or tax obligations and admitted that he had not yet taken any action on the foregoing debts. Accordingly, the AJ found that the Individual's financial irresponsibility continues into the present, and continues to cast doubt on the Individual's current reliability, trustworthiness, and good judgement. The AJ found that, although a significant passage of time has occurred since the Individual's incarceration, the terrible nature of the offense has not been eroded by the passage of time. He further found that the severity of the crime the Individual committed in the 1980s, combined with the Individual's more recent legal entanglements, outweigh the mitigating factors presented.
With regard to the Bond Amendment, the Individual served a term of imprisonment exceeding one year. The AJ found that the Individual was therefore disqualified from holding a DOE Access Authorization under the Bond Amendment, noting that although over thirty years had passed since the Individual's incarceration, the egregious nature of the crime committed, and the Individual's reluctance to acknowledge unqualified culpability for the act, meant that an exception to disqualification under the Bond Amendment was not appropriate. Accordingly, the AJ found that the Individual did not resolve the security concerns arising under Guidelines F and J. OHA Case No. PSH-21-0005 (Steven Fine).
Personnel Security; Access Authorization Not Granted; Guideline E (Personal Conduct)
On February 11, 2021, an Administrative Judge (AJ) determined that an Individual should not be granted access authorization under 10 C.F.R. Part 710. The Individual is employed by a DOE contractor in a position that requires a security clearance. During the security clearance investigation process, the Individual admitted that he provided inaccurate information in his QNSP concerning his past use of marijuana. After further investigation, the DOE suspended the Individual's security clearance process citing Guideline E of the Adjudicative Guidelines.
At the hearing, the Individual did not dispute the DOE's allegations but rather provided witness testimony to clarify and supplement the record. At the conclusion of the hearing, the AJ conclude that the seriousness of the Individual's intentional conduct, the relatively short passage of time, and the Individual's inability to fully acknowledge his behavior presented a continuing concern. Consequently, the AJ concluded that the Individual had not mitigated the Guideline E security concerns. Accordingly, the AJ concluded that the Individual should not be granted access authorization. OHA Case No. PSH-21-0003 (James P. Thompson III).