In July, the former quality-assurance inspector pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of unlawfully accessing a computer to steal company information, according to the Seattle PostIntelligencer (Seattle P-I). If convicted on all charges, he faces 57 months in prison.

Eastman, who had worked for Boeing for 18 years, said he copied the files to document and support his allegations that Boeing engaged in fraud, which, he said, consisted of taking inspection shortcuts that included failing to inspect a plane at all as it was being built.

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But while Eastman twice formally informed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of problems with Boeing’s inspection process, the agency has never acted against the company. The FAA said Eastman filed complaints about Boeing in 2002 and 2003. The federal agency investigated and found nothing that required enforcement action against Boeing, according to the Seattk P-I.

According to Boeing’s complaint, Eastman copied the sensitive company documents to a thumb drive during 12 periods between September 2004 and April 2006 and stored them on his home computer - a violation of company policy. Eastman was arrested at his desk in June while downloading data onto the drive, InformationWeek reported.

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According to InformationWeek, detectives also found password-cracking software on Eastman’s computers. “Although the files Eastman took were not encrypted or password protected, Eastman had to exploit a weakness in Boeing’s computer system to access them,” the criminal complaint noted. “Eastman methodically searched the Boeing system looking for unprotected file shares and was routinely denied access to many.”

Not only did he violate company policy, according to a case summary, but Eastman also leaked the confidential information to at least two newspapers. Police said a forensic investigation showed that Eastman had corresponded with reporters, allegedly providing them with proprietary Boeing information. According to a charging document, Eastman’s MSN hotmail account contained contact information for Seattle PI and Seattle Times reporters who cover Boeing. The document also says stories in both papers contained “sensitive information that we (detectives) found in corresponding documents on Eastman’s personal computers and storage media/devices.”

Boeing first learned of Eastman’s activities when an anonymous e-mail was sent April 12, 2006, to its senior vice president for human resources. The e-mail identified Eastman as a Boeing employee who had been downloading highly sensitive files for more than two years and was providing them to The Seattle Times, according to the Seattle P-I,

Boeing estimates that the financial damage to the company that could result if even a few of the stolen documents fell into the wrong hands could range between $5 billion and $15 billion.