Sergeant Haytham Khalil Charged with Illegally Accessing Computer

NEW YORK

A sergeant with the New York Police Department (NYPD) has been charged with accessing a computer without authorization and as a result obtaining information from the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) in December 2007.

Haytham Khalil, 34, of Brooklyn, surrendered to federal authorities Friday morning. According to the criminal complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, the FBI, which is the federal agency authorized to acquire, collect, classify and preserve identification, criminal identification, crime, and other records and to exchange such information with authorized entities, maintains some of that information in NCIC.

NCIC also contains information derived from the FBI’s “Terrorist Screening Center” regarding individuals listed on a terrorist watch list. The information is then shared for authorized use by state and local law enforcement authorities throughout the United States.

New York State maintains an electronic database system (”E-Justice”) that is designed to give users from qualified law enforcement agencies a single point of access to computerized law enforcement information within and beyond New York State.

Qualified state and local law enforcement personnel in New York have access to various forms of information maintained in E-Justice including watch list files, such as the terrorist watch list maintained by the FBI and available in NCIC.

On April 23, the FBI legal attaché in Ottawa, Canada, was informed by an officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that the RCMP had come across a Canadian citizen who was in possession of a document containing FBI NCIC information.

Specifically, the NCIC document identified an individual as being on a terrorist watch list. Moreover, the NCIC document showed that the information was accessed on Dec. 6, 2007, from an NYPD-based computer.

The RCMP was able to determine that Individual-1 received the NCIC document in December 2007 from an NYPD officer. The NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau, through a review of NYPD files and an audit of the NYPD E-Justice account, was later able to identify that officer as Khalil.

After being interviewed by the FBI, Individual-1 stated that he/she was acquainted with Khalil. When Khalil discovered that Individual-1 was involved in a child custody proceeding against Individual-2, Khalil informed Individual-1 that he had information pertaining to Individual-2. Khalil sent the NCIC document to Individual-1, who received it in December 2007.

Individual-1 then provided the NCIC document to his/her attorney to be used in relation to the child custody proceeding. Khalil was charged with one count of accessing a computer without authorization and as a result obtaining information belonging to a department and agency of the United States.

If convicted, Khalil faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a fine of the greater of $100,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. 11-21-08