The FBI on Friday arrested Turkish American electrical contractor Gokhan Gun on charges of illegally obtaining and keeping national security documents.
Gun reportedly had dozens of classified documents in his possession and was preparing for a trip to Mexico when he was taken into custody.
The complaint unsealed in Virginia federal court described Gun as an electrical engineer born in Turkey. He arrived in the United States on a work visa in 2001, became a lawful permanent resident in 2012, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2021.
According to his trade association biography, Gun earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from George Mason University, a master’s degree in engineering from George Washington University, and a doctorate in computer science from Southern Methodist University. He began working as a contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) last September.
Gun’s DoD position came with a security clearance and he reportedly had permission to take some of his work materials home. Prosecutors said he began printing documents in bulk and taking them home in May, with little apparent justification for the practice.
The FBI said he printed about 3,400 pages of material during his 11 months on the job, mostly late in the afternoon as he was preparing to head home for the day. Eyewitnesses saw him leaving his office with paperwork rolled up and stuffed into a “partially translucent shopping bag.”
Gun’s vigorous printing schedule included 406 pages of documents during the last week before he was arrested, with 82 top secret markings on them. DoD said his clearance level did not give him permission to take top secret documents home.
Gun was arrested at his Falls Church, Virginia, home – one of four properties he owns, with another in Virginia plus properties in Florida and Texas – as he was preparing to depart for what he described as a fishing vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, with some friends. The FBI took him into custody shortly before a ride-hailing service was due to pick him up for first leg of his trip to Mexico.
When FBI agents searched Gun’s home, they found stacks of papers in his dining room, including several documents labeled top secret. Gun told agents that some of the paperwork he took home might have carried “expired” classifications, but at least one of them was printed on Wednesday with what appeared to be current classification markings.
Gun is due to appear in court on charges of illegally obtaining and retaining national defense secrets on August 13. The FBI argued he was a flight risk, given that he was arrested while attempting to leave the country, while his defense lawyers said the trip was an innocent planned vacation with friends.
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