Overview
- A judge in the Eastern District of Virginia approved Tellis’s pretrial release to home detention with electronic monitoring, limited internet access, travel restrictions, and passport surrender.
- His wife co-signed a $1.5 million secured bond backed by the family home, and pretrial services will supervise him pending further proceedings.
- A preliminary hearing is set for November 4, 2025, following his October 11 arrest on a complaint alleging unlawful retention of national defense information.
- Prosecutors say investigators recovered more than 1,000 pages marked SECRET or TOP SECRET at his Vienna, Virginia, residence, including materials in locked cabinets and trash bags.
- Court filings describe episodes of altering a classified filename, printing portions, and concealing materials in a briefcase, while an FBI affidavit notes meetings with Chinese officials that the defense characterizes as disclosed academic contacts.