A National Security Agency employee was sentenced to over 20 years in prison after he tried to sell top secret information to an undercover FBI agent posing as a Russian spy.
Jareh Sebastian Dalke, 32, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, pleaded guilty to six counts of attempted espionage in connection with his efforts to transmit classified National Defense Information to a fake agent of the Russian Federation, according to federal prosecutors.
Dalke admitted during his time as an information systems security designer with the NSA in 2022, "in order to demonstrate both his 'legitimate access and willingness to share,' he used an encrypted email account to transmit excerpts of three classified documents to an individual he believed to be a Russian agent," said prosecutors.
In return, he asked for an $85,000 payment, and agreed to hand over more classified information to the fake Russian agent at a downtown Denver train station.
Dalke subsequently sent five more files, including a letter that read, in part, "My friends... 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."
Dalke was arrested by FBI agents moments after he sent the top secret files on Sept. 28, 2023.
"This defendant, who had sworn an oath to defend our country, believed he was selling classified national security information to a Russian agent, when in fact, he was outing himself to the FBI," Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement. "This sentence demonstrates that those who seek to betray our country will be held accountable for their crimes."
