United States v. Girard

Girard (defendant), a former DEA agent, and an associate named Bond discussed smuggling marijuana into the U.S. Girard offered to sell, for $500 per name, information from an inside DEA source — agent Lambert — about whether others involved were government informants. Bond then became a DEA informant himself and, under DEA surveillance, asked Girard to obtain reports on four men from computerized DEA files. Investigators traced the leaked reports back to Lambert. Girard and Lambert were convicted of unauthorized sale of government property under § 641 and conspiracy, and appealed, arguing the statute covered only tangible property, not electronic information.