Former US nuclear courier jailed for 2 1/2-years

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A former nuclear weapons courier accused of using his position to obtain restricted items and selling them over the Internet was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison. Joe Allen Sizemore, 41, who had top secret clearance and was assigned to protect nuclear weapons shipments, was sentenced Thursday for wire fraud and possession of an unregistered firearm, prosecutors said. Sizemore, a former employee of the Pantex nuclear weapons plant near Amarillo, was indicted in September on 31 counts of aiding and abetting wire fraud, aiding and abetting theft of government property and possession of unregistered firearms. He initially pleaded not guilty but later accepted a plea agreement, the US attorney's office said. Federal Judge Mary Lou Robinson ordered Sizemore to pay $8,489 restitution and a $10,000 fine.