U.S. Navy engineer Jonathan Toebbe and his wife Diana face espionage charges in West VirginiqWASHINGTON -A former U.S. Navy engineer charged with attempting to sell secrets about nuclear submarines to a foreign power has pleaded guilty as part of a deal with federal prosecutors, a government lawyer said on Monday.
Jonathan Toebbe, a former U.S. Navy engineer, was arrested on Oct. 9 in Jefferson County, West Virginia, following a year-long sting operation by undercover FBI agents. Toebbe's agreement with prosecutors calls for him to receive between 12.5 and 17.5 years in prison. He will be sentenced at a later hearing.
The memory card contained "militarily sensitive design elements, operating parameters and performance characteristics of Virginia-class submarine reactors," according to the Justice Department.