NAVY NUCLEAR ENGINEER ESPIONAGE HOW TO

Jonathan Toebbe, a Navy nuclear engineer, is accused of trying to pass information about the design of submarines to someone he thought was a representative of a foreign government but who was actually an undercover FBI agent.Ĭourt documents do not reveal the identity of the foreign country he is accused of trying to sell the information Navy nuclear engineer pleaded guilty on Monday to a charge that he tried to sell some of America’s most closely guarded submarine secrets to a foreign country, in an. The couple is due in federal court Wednesday for a detention hearing. 9 and charged in a criminal complaint with violations of the Atomic Energy Act. They were arrested in West Virginia on Oct. While she did not plea guilty, the facts of Toebbe’s plea deal include that Diana Toebbe acted as a lookout while he conducted the dead drops.WASHINGTON (AP) - A Maryland couple arrested earlier this month on charges of trying to sell information about nuclear-powered warships to a foreign country have been indicted, the Justice Department said Tuesday.įederal prosecutors say Jonathan and Diane Toebbe are each charged with one count of conspiracy to communicate restricted data and two counts of communication of restricted data. Toebbe’s wife, Diana, still faces her two charges. Toebbe will also assist the federal officials in finding the $100,000 in cryptocurrency that the FBI paid Toebbe in exchange for his information while the FBI agents posed as officials from the unnamed country.

NAVY NUCLEAR ENGINEER ESPIONAGE HOW TO

The flash drive included typed messages from Toebbe, as well as information for how to access the restricted data once Toebbe received payment.Īs part of the plea deal, Toebbe will allow the government to search all of his electronic devices and accounts, as well as help federal officials find all of the classified and restricted data he possessed. The agency set up multiple exchanges with Toebbe, during which he would place a flash drive in various objects, including a peanut butter sandwich, a gum package and a bandaid. A US Navy nuclear engineer and his wife have pleaded guilty to allegedly trying to sell closely held US submarine secrets to an unnamed foreign government for 100,000 in cryptocurrency. The country sent the proposal package to the FBI, which then posed as agents of the unspecified country. Toebbe originally sent a package of information to the unnamed country, offering to start a relationship in which Toebbe would send more classified documents in exchange for cryptocurrency, USNI News previously reported. Over the course of eight months – from October 2020 to April 2021 – Toebbe attempted to give classified documents about the Virginia-class submarine to another country, which has not been named, Toebbe said during his plea hearing. Toebbe was an employee of the Department of the Navy, serving as a nuclear engineer with the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. A plea hearing has been scheduled for a Navy nuclear engineer accused of trying to sell information about nuclear-powered warships to a foreign country. Toebbe and his wife were each charged with one count of conspiracy to communicate restricted data and communication of restricted material. Toebbe, 42, admitted to conspiring with his. Toebbe likely now faces a sentence of between 12.5 and 17.5 years, unless the court chooses to not accept the plea deal, in which case Toebbe will also be allowed to withdraw his plea. Justice Department lawyer unveiled the agreement with nuclear engineer Jonathan Toebbe during a court hearing in West Virginia federal court. The FBI arrested Toebbe and his wife Diana in October after the agency built a case against him, suggesting he was attempting to sell restricted material to another country. to plea guilty to conspiracy to communicate restricted data. A Navy nuclear engineer and his wife, accused of espionage and arrested in W.Va., appeared in federal court today in Martinsburg. Jonathan Toebbe appeared in the District Court of Northern West Virginia at 3 p.m. Navy PhotoĪn Annapolis, Md., man pleaded guilty Monday to attempting to give confidential information about the Virginia-class submarine to an unnamed country. 26, 2021) Tugboats guide USS Minnesota (SSN 783) to the pier as the Virginia-class nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine returns to Naval Submarine Base New London following a regularly-scheduled deployment.

Navy nuclear engineer espionage