Brookline Man Pleads Guilty to Foreign Economic Espionage

BOSTON—A Brookline man pleaded guilty today to foreign economic espionage. This is the first prosecution in Massachusetts for foreign economic espionage and only the eighth in the nation.

ELLIOT DOXER, 43, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper to one count of foreign economic espionage for providing trade secrets over an 18-month period to an undercover federal agent posing as an Israeli intelligence officer.

The parties stipulated in an agreed statement of facts that on June 22, 2006, DOXER sent an e-mail to the Israeli consulate in Boston stating that he worked in the finance department of Akamai Technologies, Inc., and was willing to provide any information that might help Israel. In later communications, DOXER said that his chief desire “was to help our homeland and our war against our enemies.” He also asked for payment in light of the risks he was taking.

In September 2007, a federal agent posing as an undercover Israeli intelligence officer spoke to DOXER and established a “dead drop” where the agent and DOXER could exchange written communications. From October 2007 through March 2009, DOXER visited the dead drop at least 62 times to leave information, retrieve communications, and check for new communications.

Included in the trade secret information that DOXER provided the undercover agent were an extensive list of Akamai’s customers; contracts between the company and various customers revealing contact, services, pricing, and termination date information; and a comprehensive list of the company’s employees that revealed their positions and full contact information. DOXER also broadly described the company’s physical and computer security systems and stated that he could travel to the foreign country and could support special and sensitive operations in his local area if needed. Because Akamai’s information was disclosed only to an undercover agent from the beginning, the information was never in danger of actual exposure outside the company.

We acknowledge the government of Israel for their cooperation in this investigation, and underscore that the information does not allege that the government of Israel or anyone acting on its behalf committed any offense under U.S. laws in this case. We would also like to acknowledge and thank Akamai Technologies, Inc., for its assistance throughout all stages of the investigation and prosecution.

DOXER was arrested on October 6, 2010, on a complaint charging him with wire fraud.

That charge will be dismissed at the end of this case as part of the plea agreement. The charge of foreign economic espionage carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, a three-year term of supervised release and a $500,000 fine. Judge Casper scheduled sentencing for November 30, 2011.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Office made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys William D. Weinreb and Scott L. Garland, respectively in Ortiz’s Antiterrorism and National Security Unit and Cybercrimes Unit, and by Trial Attorneys Kathleen Kedian and David Recker of the Department of Justices’s Counterespionage Section.