Hawaii woman pleads guilty to removing classified documents from embassy, found at dinner party

A Hawaii woman employed by the Department of Defense pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to removing classified material while temporarily assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Manila, which were discovered in her hotel room during a dinner party in which two foreign nationals were present.

"Government employees are entrusted with a responsibility to ensure classified information is properly handled and secured. Asia Janay Lavarello failed in her duty when she removed classified documents from the U.S. Embassy Manila," Steven Merrill, special agent in charge of the FBI's Honolulu office, said in a statement.  Lavarello was employed as an executive assistant at the Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii when she accepted the assignment in the Philippines. On March 20, she took classified documents from the embassy to her hotel room where she was hosting a dinner party that evening, federal prosecutors said.  Among the guests at the gathering were two foreign nationals. A co-worker discovered the documents, which included some classified at the "SECRET" level, the Justice Department said.