Passport File Snoop Gets Probation

Dec. 19, 2008— -- A former State Department contractor who admitted to breaching the passport files of President-elect Obama and Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain was sentenced today to 12 months of probation and will perform 50 hours of community service for unauthorized computer access.

Lawrence Yontz was charged in September and pleaded guilty to a criminal charge filed by the Justice Department in the case.

In March, during the presidential campaign, reports surfaced that individuals with access to the State Department's confidential passport records had broken privacy rules and looked into the passport files of the presidential hopefuls.

According to the criminal charges that he pleaded guilty to, Yontz also viewed the passport files of, "various celebrities, athletes, actors, politicians and their immediate families, musicians, game show contestants, members of the media corps, prominent business professionals, colleagues, associates, neighbors and individuals identified in the press."

According to court documents filed in the case, Yontz viewed the passport files of almost 200 individuals.

The database, known as the Passport Information Electronic Records System, or PIERS, typically includes the applicant's name, gender, Social Security number, date and place of birth and passport number.

According to the court records filed in the case, Yontz allegedly reviewed information in the PIERS system from February 2005 through March 2008.

A sentencing memorandum filed by Yontz's attorney David Laufman said the "purpose in accessing and viewing these passport applications was 'idle curiosity.'"

Yontz served as a State Department foreign service officer from 1987-1996 but stepped down from that position because of a life-threatening illness. Yontz worked as a State Department contractor from then on.

In Thursday's sentencing memorandum, Laufman wrote, "Mr. Yontz is an honorable, decent individual who committed serious errors in judgment."