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An engineer who worked at Arnold Air Force Base faces felony charges and is the subject of a federal investigation of a “critical compromise” of communication across 17 Air Force facilities, allegedly stealing nearly $90,000 worth of government radio technology.

According to the arrest warrant, in January the Department of Defense (DOD) and OSI personnel from Arnold Air Force Base met with Coffee County investigators concerning employee Brent DeSalvo. Per the warrant, DeSalvo had been seen by other employees leaving the base with “various types of electronic equipment that should not be in his possession.”

A search warrant was obtained for two locations and investigators recovered property from the base with a value in excess of $60,000.

“The subject has the ability to have damaged national security because of his position and access to covert communication systems,” the arrest warrant stated.

According to the indictment, signed by District Attorney General Craig Northcott, DeSalvo was indicted by the grand jury on the charge of theft of property of $60,000 to less than $250,000, a Class B felony, which carries a penalty of imprisonment for a period of eight to 30 years, in addition to a fine of up to $25,000.

The voluminous list of witnesses include personnel from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department, AEDC, Department of Defense and FBI, as well as other witnesses.

According to Forbes, who obtained a copy of the search warrant, the government was tipped off by a contractor working with Arnold Air Force Base, and raided the engineer’s home where they found the nearly $90,000 worth of government radio technology. Per Forbes, law enforcement found the engineer had “unauthorized administrator access” to radio communications tech used by the Air Education and Training Command (AETC), “affecting 17 DoD installations.”

Law enforcement also reportedly found a computer where the computer running a Motorola radio software “which contained the entire Arnold Air Force Base (AAFB) communications system” and evidence that the subject had possible access to communications of the FBI and other various Tennessee state agencies, though more information about the data was not provided in the warrant.

The News reached out to Arnold Air Force Base, and were given the following statement:

“The Air Force Office of Special Investigation is supporting a joint investigation led by the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee.”

Both offices were contacted for comment and The News did not receive further comment on the matter. Neither the Pentagon nor the FBI have made public statements on the search warrant by press time. DeSalvo is next scheduled to appear in court on this matter on Aug. 23.

However, theft is not all the charges facing DeSalvo as he is charged separately with counts of soliciting sexual exploitation of a minor and assault by physical contact.

The exploitation charge is a Class E Felony carrying one to two years in prison.