Hughes Admits That Classified Data Was Obtained Illegally

Hughes Aircraft Co. today pleaded guilty to two felony counts of unlawfully obtaining classified Pentagon budget documents and agreed to pay more than $3.55 million to settle the case.

Hughes is the fourth major defense contractor to plead guilty through a plea bargain to similar charges under an investigation begun in the mid-1980s by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the investigative arm of the defense inspector general.

The two counts concern five-year defense program documents issued in 1983 and 1984 summarizing resources planned, programmed and budgeted by the Department of Defense.

The three other major defense contractors that previously pleaded guilty to similar charges are GTE Government Systems Division, which paid about $300,000; Boeing, which paid $5.2 million, and RCA Corp., which paid $2.5 million.