Samuel Loring Morison Samuel Loring Morison ( born October 30 , 1944 ) is a former American intelligence professional , who was convicted of espionage and theft of government property in 1985 , and pardoned in 2001 . He was " the only [ American ] government official ever convicted for giving classified information to the press . " Early life . Morison was born in London , England , where his father was stationed during World War II . His paternal grandfather , Samuel Eliot Morison , was a distinguished naval historian , a Rear Admiral in the Naval Reserve and Harvard University professor . Morison spent much of his younger years in New York and Maine . He attended Tabor Academy , a college preparatory school in Massachusetts and graduated from the University of Louisville in 1967 . Career . Morison worked as an intelligence analyst at the Naval Intelligence Support Center ( NISC ) in Suitland , Maryland , from 1974 to 1984 , specializing in Soviet amphibious and mine - laying vessels . During those years , Morison also earned $ 5 , 000 per year as a part - time contributor and editor of the American section of the London - based " Jane ' s Fighting Ships " , an annual reference work on the world ' s navies . Conflicts with his supervisors led Morison to seek a full - time position with " Jane ' s " in London . At this time , he began overstepping the boundary of permissible information that could be sent to " Jane ' s " . As a GS - 12 Soviet amphibious ship analyst with a Top Secret clearance , Morison provided " Jane ' s " with three secret satellite photographs that he had taken from the desk of a coworker at NISC in July 1984 . Morison cut classified control markings from them before mailing them to " Jane ' s " . In 1984 , two images of Soviet aircraft taken by a KH - 8 or KH - 9 satellite were inadvertently published in records of Congressional hearings . That same year , " Jane ' s Defence Weekly " was provided with several images taken by a KH - 11 satellite of a Soviet naval shipbuilding facility . A 1984 computer - enhanced KH - 11 photo , taken at an oblique angle , was leaked , along with two others , to " Jane ' s Defence Weekly " . The image shows the general layout of the Nikolaiev 444 shipyard on the Black Sea . Under construction is a Kiev class aircraft carrier , then known as the Kharkiv , along with an amphibious landing ship . According to the US Government prosecutors , Morison also provided " Jane ' s " with a copy of a classified report on the damage to the Soviet navy base in Severomorsk that resulted from a 1984 explosion . Prosecution and pardon . A joint investigation by the Naval Investigative Service and the FBI led to Morison , who was arrested on October 1 , 1984 . A search of his apartment in Crofton , Maryland , revealed several hundred government documents , some of them classified . Investigators never demonstrated any intent to provide information to a hostile intelligence service . Morison was charged with espionage and theft of government property . Morison told investigators that he sent the photographs to " Jane ' s " because the " public should be aware of what was going on on the other side " , meaning that the new nuclear - powered aircraft carrier would transform Soviet capabilities . He said that " if the American people knew what the Soviets were doing , they would increase the defense budget . " British intelligence sources thought his motives were patriotic . Prosecutors emphasized personal economic gain and Morison ' s complaints about his government job . Morison once wrote to his editor at " Jane ' s " : " My loyalty to Jane ' s is above question . " The Reagan administration had been struggling to stop the leaking of government information by administering lie - detector tests and conducting dozens of investigations . It used the prosecution of Morison as a " test case " for applying the Espionage Act of 1917 , originally targeted at spies and the delivery of confidential information to foreign governments , to cover the disclosure of information to the press in the manner of the British Official Secrets Act . The government did not claim that Morison ' s actions had damaged U . S . interests , only that further disclosures of comparable information might eventually enhance Soviet capabilities . A March 1984 report noted that " the unauthorized publication of classified information is a routine daily occurrence in the U . S . " but that the applicability of the Espionage Act to such disclosures " is not entirely clear . " A " Time " report said that the Administration , if it failed to convict Morison , would seek additional legislation . " Time " recognized the ongoing problem : " The Government does need to protect military secrets , the public does need information to judge defense policies , and the line between the two is surpassingly difficult to draw . " On October 17 , 1985 , Morison was convicted in Federal Court on two counts of espionage and two counts of theft of government property . He was sentenced to two years in prison on December 4 , 1985 . The Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal in 1988 . Following Morison ' s conviction , the Reagan administration continued its campaign against leaks . In April 1986 , an Assistant Under Secretary of Defense was fired for sharing classified information with reporters . In May , CIA Director William Casey threatened to prosecute five news organizations – the " Washington Post " , the " Washington Times " , the " New York Times " , " Time " and " Newsweek " – and succeeded in delaying the publication of a " Washington Post " story . As a result of the Morison case , policy guidelines for adjudicating security clearances were changed to include consideration of outside activities that present potential conflict of interest . In 1998 , Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan asked for appeal on the grounds of " the erratic application of that law and the anomaly of this singular conviction in eighty - one years " . He cited examples of serious espionage cases that were not pursued , VENONA and Theodore Hall , and other cases that had been dismissed , including those of Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony Russo . President Clinton pardoned Morison on January 20 , 2001 , the last day of his presidency , despite the CIA ' s opposition to the pardon .