Espionage: Maryland couple jailed for selling classified data on U.S. nuclear warships
A married couple from Annapolis, Maryland, was sentenced on August 9 for Conspiracy to Communicate Restricted Data related to the design of nuclear-powered warships.
Jonathan Toebbe, 44, was sentenced on Wednesday to 19 years and 4 months behind bars and fined $45,700. His wife, Diana Toebbe, 46, was sentenced to 21 years and 10 months in the slammer and was fined $50,000. The Toebbes pleaded guilty to the conspiracy in August 2022.
“If not for the remarkable efforts of FBI agents, the sensitive data stolen by Mr. Toebbe could have ended up in the hands of an adversary of the United States and put the safety of our military and our nation at risk,” said U.S. Attorney Ihlenfeld.
“The Toebbes were willing to compromise the security of the nation by selling information related to naval nuclear propulsion systems. They are now being held accountable for their actions,” said FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Mike Nordwall.
According to court documents, at the time of his arrest, Jonathan Toebbe was an employee of the Department of the Navy who served as a nuclear engineer and was assigned to the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, also known as Naval Reactors. He held an active national security clearance through the Department of Defense, giving him access to “Restricted Data” within the meaning of the Atomic Energy Act. Restricted Data concerns design, manufacture or utilization of atomic weapons, or production of Special Nuclear Material (SNM), or use of SNM in the production of energy – such as naval reactors. Jonathan Toebbe worked with and had access to information concerning naval nuclear propulsion including information related to military sensitive design elements, operating parameters and performance characteristics of the reactors for nuclear powered warships.
Reportedly, Jonathan Toebbe sent a package to a foreign government, listing a return address in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, containing a sample of Restricted Data and instructions for establishing a covert relationship to purchase additional Restricted Data. Toebbe began corresponding via encrypted email with an individual whom he believed to be a representative of the foreign government. The individual was really an undercover FBI agent.
Toebbe continued this correspondence for several months, which led to an agreement to sell Restricted Data in exchange for thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency.
On June 8, 2021, the undercover agent sent $10,000 in cryptocurrency to Jonathan Toebbe as “good faith” payment. Shortly afterwards, on June 26, Jonathan Toebbe serviced a dead drop by placing an SD memory card, which was concealed within half a peanut butter sandwich and contained military sensitive design elements relating to submarine nuclear reactors, at a pre-arranged location.
Diana Toebbe, 46, who was teaching at a private school in Maryland at the time of the couple’s arrest last October, was accused of acting as a lookout at several prearranged “dead-drop” locations at which memory cards containing the secret information were left behind. ~ WLIW-FM
After retrieving the SD card, the undercover agent sent Toebbe a $20,000 cryptocurrency payment. In return, Jonathan Toebbe emailed the undercover agent a decryption key for the SD Card. A review of the SD card revealed that it contained Restricted Data related to submarine nuclear reactors. On August 28, Jonathan Toebbe made another “dead drop” of an SD card in eastern Virginia, this time concealing the card in a chewing gum package.
After making a payment to Toebbe of $70,000 in cryptocurrency, the FBI received a decryption key for the card. It, too, contained Restricted Data related to submarine nuclear reactors. The FBI arrested Jonathan Toebbe and his wife on October 9, after he placed yet another SD card at a pre-arranged “dead drop” at a second location in West Virginia.
Diana Toebbe, a former schoolteacher, was sentenced to 21 years in prison, while Jonathan Toebbe was sentenced to more than 18 years.
“It was most probably Mrs. Toebbe that was driving the bus,” the judge said. “She was part of the plan.” ~ CBS News
The case remains under investigation by the FBI and NCIS. For more on the story, see the video accompanying this article.
(Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office / Northern District of West Virginia)
(Cover Photo: Jonathan Toebbe and Diana Toebbe, Image credits, West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter
