Ex-NSA employee admits trying to sell top-secret information to Russia
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A sign near the visitor's entrance to the headquarters of the National Security Agency. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
A former National Security Agency employee admitted trying to sell classified national security information to Russia, according to a plea deal Monday.
Driving the news: Jareh Sebastian Dalke, 31, of Colorado Springs, pleaded guilty to six counts of attempting to transmit classified National Defense Information to a person he believed to be a Russian agent, but who was actually an undercover FBI employee.
- The Army veteran admitted that from August to September 2022, "in order to demonstrate both his 'legitimate access and willingness to share,' he used an encrypted email account to transmit excerpts" of three top-secret documents to the undercover employee, per a Department of Justice statement.
- Dalke was last year paid $16,499 in cryptocurrency for excerpts of National Defense Information (NDI) documents that he shared before offering to sell for $85,000 the rest of the information that was classified as "Top Secret//Sensitive Compartmented Information," according to the plea agreement.
Zoom in: "Dalke claimed the information would be of value to Russia and told the FBI online covert employee that he would share more information in the future, once he returned to the Washington, D.C., area," the DOJ notes.
- Dalke subsequently arranged to transfer additional classified information in his possession in downtown Denver on Sept. 28 to the agent he believed was spying for Russia.
- "Using a laptop computer and the instructions provided by the FBI online covert employee, Dalke transferred five files, four of which contain Top Secret NDI," per the DOJ.
- The other file was a letter that opens in Russian with "My friends!" It states, in part: "I am very happy to finally provide this information to you. ... I look forward to our friendship and shared benefit. Please let me know if there are desired documents to find and I will try when I return to my main office."
- The FBI arrested Dalke moments after he transmitted the files.
What we're watching: Dalke faces a maximum penalty of up to life in prison, though prosecutors agreed not to seek a sentence of more than 262 months in prison if he sticks to the plea deal terms, according to the agreement.
- Sentencing is scheduled for April 26.
Go deeper: U.S. and Europe crack down on Russian spies
