Who has the authority to prosecute crimes committed in space? This was the latest question raised in 2019 when a woman accused her estranged husband, an astronaut, of accessing her bank account without permission while the astronaut was aboard the International Space Station. Now an Earth-bound woman has pleaded guilty to lying to government investigators about her astronaut wife.
Summer Heather Worden contacted the FTC in 2019 and accused her then-wife, astronaut Anne McClain, of guessing her password to access Worden’s bank account. Worden, a former Air Force intelligence officer, reportedly told the same story to NASA’s Office of Inspector General, according to the Justice Department.
The couple were embroiled in a custody dispute over their son, who was 6 years old at the time and was born through IVF and surrogate. McClain denied allegations in an August 2019 tweet that he accessed the bank account and changed the password.
McClain wrote, “There is clearly no truth to these claims. We are going through a painful, personal separation that is now unfortunately being played out in the media.” “I appreciate the outpouring of support and will reserve comment until after the investigation. I have full confidence in this.” [Inspector General] Process.”
McClain was scheduled to participate in the first all-female spacewalk earlier that year, which was postponed because there were no adequately fitted spacesuits. The spacewalk ultimately took place in October 2019.
Worden was charged in 2020 with making false statements to federal investigators. McClain did not deny access to the bank account from space but said it was a shared account and he had permission to access it. Worden alleged that accessing his wife’s account was a form of identity theft. But federal prosecutors said Worden’s claims about when the bank account was created and when it was accessed were not true, according to the Houston Chronicle.
In 2022, additional charges were added, including wire fraud over a land purchase deal from 2017 in Spicewood, Texas. Worden allegedly paid $200,000 to eight people, including his ex-wife, when he purchased an investment property and kept the profits for himself rather than sharing them with his other investors, the Chronicle reports.
Worden, whose trial was scheduled to begin Monday, pleaded guilty last Thursday to making false, fictitious and fraudulent statements to the FTC and NASA’s Office of Inspector General.
Prosecutors have agreed to drop all charges against Worden in exchange for pleading guilty to making false statements to investigators. Worden, who is free on bond according to CNBC, will be sentenced in February 2026 and still faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He will also have to pay compensation to any victim of fraud in property deals.