Top Pentagon Official Charged With Stealing License Plates

Bryan Whitman, as principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, is one of the highest-ranking civilians in the Pentagon

Bryan Whitman, the Pentagon's top public affairs official, has entered an agreement with prosecutors to keep him out of jail after he was charged with stealing license plates from a neighborhood car, according to court documents.

Whitman, 58 — who as principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs is one of the highest-ranking civilians in the Pentagon — remains on the job, deputy Pentagon press secretary Gordon Trowbridge told NBC News on Wednesday.

Records filed Tuesday in D.C. Superior Court show that Whitman and Washington, D.C., prosecutors have agreed to defer his prosecution on three counts of first- and second-degree theft, which were filed May 5.

The charges will be dismissed next year if Whitman pays restitution, completes about a week of community service and doesn't run afoul of the law in any other way, according to the agreement.

Contact Us