US Navy engineer, wife sentenced for trying to sell secrets to foreign country

A US Navy engineer and his wife have been sentenced to federal prison after they tried to sell military secrets, related to the design of U.S. nuclear warships, to a foreign government.

Jonathan Toebbe, 44, was sentenced to just over 19 years in prison on November 9. His wife, Diana Toebbe, 46, was sentenced to just under 22 years, United Press International cited the US Justice Department, as saying.

The Toebbes both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to communicate restricted data to an undisclosed country in a plea deal to avoid facing life in prison. Jonathan Toebbe had an active national security clearance as a Navy engineer granting him access to restricted data.

"The Toebbes conspired to sell restricted defence information that would place the lives of our men and women in uniform and the security of the United States at risk," said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division.

"These actions are a betrayal of trust, not only to the U.S. government, but also to the American people," said Assistant Director Alan Kohler Jr. of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division.

"All U.S. government employees swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and with that oath comes the obligation to protect sensitive information."

The Toebbes were arrested in West Virginia in October of 2021, after they sold restricted data multiple times to an FBI agent working undercover for almost a year, according to the Justice Department. The FBI intercepted concealed memory cards in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Virginia, which Jonathan Toebbe believed he was leaving to be collected by foreign agents. The married couple received cryptocurrency payments in return, prosecutors said.

The data was placed on the cards and concealed in a sandwich on one occasion, and in a chewing gum package on another, at pre-arranged locations. Decryption keys for the cards were disclosed once payments were made, according to the Justice Department.

The Justice Department said the couple violated the Atomic Energy Act with a "good faith" payment of $10,000 on June 8, 2021, and additional payments of $20,000 and $70,000 involving the sale of restricted design data on submarine nuclear reactors.

"The Toebbes were willing to compromise the security of the nation by selling information related to naval nuclear propulsion systems," said Special Agent in Charge Mike Nordwall of the FBI Pittsburgh Field Office.