DAYTON —A former contractor with the Air Force Research Lab has pled guilty to illegally taking over 2,500 pages of classified documents.

Fairborn resident Izaak Vincent Kemp pled guilty in US District Court Thursday to taking over 100 documents classified at the Secret level from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, according to the office of David DeVillers, U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of Ohio.

Kemp, 35, was charged on Jan. 25 by a Bill of Information.

According to court documents, Kemp was employed as a contractor at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) from July 2016 to May 2019, and later as a contractor at the U.S. Air Force National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC). While working at AFRL and NASIC, both located at Wright-Patterson, Kemp had Top Secret security clearance, DeVillers’ office said.

“Despite having training on various occasions on how to safeguard classified material, Kemp took 112 classified documents and retained them at his home,” attorneys said in a statement.

Fairborn police first discovered Kemp’s possession of the unauthorized documents on May 25, 2019 while executing a search warrant.

According to prosecutors, unauthorized removal or retention of classified documents is a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison. Congress sets the maximum statutory sentence. Sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the Court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

Officials announcing the plea Thursday included DeVillers, John Demers, assistant attorney general for the National Security Division of the Department of Justice; Chris Hoffman, FBI Special Agent in Charge, Cincinnati Division; the Air Force Office of Special Investigations; and Fairborn Police Chief Terry Bennington. The plea was announced before U.S. District Judge Walter H. Rice.