A Norfolk-based soldier is still behind bars Saturday night, months after being charged with spying.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Ariel Weinmann faces charges of espionage and desertion. Police arrested him at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in March.

Weinmann has been in the brig ever since, and he will face a general court martial.

Charges of desertion and espionage can carry the death penalty in a time of war, but the Navy's head prosecutor reportedly will not be seeking a capitol sentence.

If he is found guilty, Weinmann could face a sentence of life in prison.

Ariel's father, Robert Weinmann, says he still can't believe his son is charged with espionage. Speaking from his house in Oregon, he describes his 21-year-old son as a young man who planned to make a career serving in the Navy.

Petty Officer Weinmann was a fire control technician aboard the USS Albuquerque for two years. He was responsible for firing missiles until in 2005 he allegedly deserted.

"For eight months we never heard anything at all. They didn't inquire about him... never heard anything until one day an FBI agent showed up at our door," said Robert Weinmann.

Weinmann was accused of spying and giving information to a representative of a foreign government while on leave in 2005 in Bahrain Vienna, Austria and Mexico City after he deserted.

Robert Weinmann said he still hasn't been told the details of his son's case, but was told authorities found sensitive information on a laptop computer.

Now, while Ariel Weinmann sits in the Norfolk brig, his father sits more than 2,500 miles away feeling helpless and concerned about his son's civil rights.

"Every father says they know their son, but I know how he was brought up. He was kind of gullible and I definitely don't want him to be a scapegoat," said Weinmann.

According to the Virginian-Pilot, Weinmann was accused of making an electric copy of classified defense information.

Weinmann was accused of destroying the hard drive of a laptop investigators claim he stole from the Navy.