An employee who should be responsible for data security tried to sell secret documents. He will spend the next 21 years behind bars.
Former Pentagon employee Jareh Sebastian Dalke, 32, was sentenced to 21 and 8 months in prison for attempted espionage. He attempted to transfer secret documents to a person believed to be a “Russian agent.” The US Department of Justice announced this on Monday, April 29.
During the trial, Dalke pleaded guilty to six charges of attempting to provide classified information to a foreign representative.
“The defendant, once sworn to protect our country, thought he was selling national security information to a Russian agent when in fact his contact was an FBI employee. This verdict shows that the traitors of our country will be punished,” commented the Prosecutor General.
“Dahlke believed that he was passing on classified information to a representative of the Russian authorities. Thanks to the efforts of our FBI agents, we were able to prevent the transfer of information and avoid a threat to the security of the United States,” added FBI Director Christopher Wray.
From June 6 to July 1, 2022, Dahlke was an employee of the National Security Agency, where he served as an information systems security designer. Dahlke admitted that between August and September 2022, to demonstrate his “legitimate access and willingness to share,” he used an encrypted email account to transmit portions of three classified documents to an individual believed to be a Russian agent.
On or about August 26, 2022, Dalke offered $85,000 in exchange for all information in his possession. Dahlke argued that the information would have implications for Russia and said he would share more information in the future.