WASHINGTON D.C.: As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Jonathan Toebbe, the former U.S. Navy engineer charged with attempting to sell secrets about nuclear submarines to a foreign power, has pleaded guilty.
A U.S. Justice Department lawyer announced the plea agreement during a court hearing in a West Virginia federal court.
Charged with violating the Atomic Energy Act, Toebbe, 42, admitted to conspiring with his wife Diana to disclose restricted information, and could face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Diana Toebbe, 45, is charged with helping her husband, but has pleaded not guilty and is still facing criminal charges.
According to his plea agreement, Toebbe, who had top-secret security clearance, will face a likely sentence of between 12 years to 17 years in prison.
Brandon Van Grack, national security lawyer at Morrison and Foerster, who is not involved in the case, said, The plea deal “indicates that the government likely had a very strong case and saw this conduct as posing a very serious risk to national security,” as quoted by Reuters.
In an October indictment, prosecutors alleged that the couple attempted to sell government secrets about nuclear submarine propulsion to an unidentified foreign country.
The Justice Department said Toebbe communicated with an undercover FBI agent posing as a foreign official over the course of several months.
The department added that Toebbe even hid a digital memory card containing documents about submarine nuclear reactors in half a peanut butter sandwich at a “dead drop” location in West Virginia, while his wife acted as lookout.
During a court hearing in October, an FBI agent testified that Toebbe asked for $5 million in cryptocurrency, in exchange for the secret submarine information, and a payment was made of some $100,000, which has not been located.
