WASHINGTON, June 14 (Sputnik) – A former Navy sailor and defense contractor with access to classified nuclear secrets has been sentenced to 41 months in prison for stealing classified information related to US military operations in Afghanistan, the Justice Department said in a press release.

“During his employment overseas, and particularly [as a contractor] in Afghanistan, Marshall shipped hard drives to his Liverpool home,” the release said on Wednesday. “The hard drives contained documents and writings classified at the secret level about flight and ground operations in Afghanistan.”

The former contractor, Weldon Marshall, served in the US Navy from approximately January 1999 to January 2004, and worked as a contractor after leaving the Navy with companies that had contracts with the Department of Defense, the release added.

During his five-year stint in the Navy, Marshall had access to top secret information, including documents describing US nuclear command, control and communications, the release noted.

The release gave no details on what, if anything, Marshall did with the stolen information.