Feds search Mass. home of missile systems expert

[October 26, 2010]  BOSTON (AP) -- Federal agents on Monday searched and removed materials from a suburban Boston home owned by a missile systems expert who worked for the U.S. defense contractor Raytheon.

The home is owned by Richard M. Lloyd, the former Raytheon Co. employee, and Lori Lloyd, public records show. Agents from the FBI and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau removed several boxes of items from the home and placed them in a van.

U.S. attorney's office spokeswoman Christina DiIorio-Sterling wouldn't comment on the reason for the search of the home in Melrose, a city of about 30,000 residents just north of Boston, but said there was "no immediate threat to the community."

Lloyd also had been stopped at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City while trying to board a flight with a Raytheon laptop computer that had information that he was not authorized to have, according to a federal law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not allowed to speak about the case.

Raytheon spokesman Jon Kasle confirmed Lloyd formerly worked at the Waltham, Mass.-based company, which recently was awarded a $47 million Army contract for Jackal passive infrared defeat systems as part of an effort to respond to combat emergencies, but he wouldn't say when Lloyd left, how long he worked there or what he did.

A message left Monday at a phone number listed for Lloyd wasn't immediately returned.

A biography of Lloyd on the website of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics identifies him as a one-time manager of the Warhead Lethality Group of the Raytheon Co. Electronic Systems Division and as author of the 1998 book "Conventional Warhead Systems Physics and Engineering Design."

Lloyd also is listed on Amazon.com as the author of "Physics of Direct Hit and Near Miss Warhead Technology." According to his author's page on Amazon, Lloyd has extensive hands-on experience with advanced state-of-the-art interceptor missiles and has served as principal investigator on missile projects.

Public records of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office list Lloyd as the holder of five patents, including one issued June 1 for a "mine counter measure system," described in part by the patent office as "a method of destroying mines in a minefield buried under the surface."

Lloyd also is named as the holder of a patent for a "wide area dispersal warhead."

Spokesmen for the Boston office of the FBI and ICE referred questions to the U.S. attorney's office..

[Associated Press; By BOB SALSBERG]

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Russell Contreras in Boston and Tom Hays in New York City.

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