In the United States, former National Security Agency (NSA) employee Jareh Dalke was sentenced to almost 22 years in prison for attempting to transfer secret documents to Russia. This was reported by the US Department of Justice.
Dahlke was found guilty of six counts of attempting to transmit classified data to a foreign agent, and he was sentenced to 262 months in prison. According to investigators, while working at the NSA, the convict gained access to classified information and later tried to transfer it to Russian intelligence services for a reward.
Dahlke worked at the NSA as an information systems security designer from June 6 to July 1, 2022. Between August and September 2022, he gave a man he believed to be a Russian agent excerpts from three classified documents to “demonstrate his willingness to share information.”
Later, the convict promised to give the agent all the documents at his disposal for 85 thousand dollars. During a meeting with the agent, Dalke handed him five files: four documents classified as “top secret” and a letter in which the American announced his readiness to continue providing the necessary information.
It later turned out that the representative of the Russian special services was an FBI employee working undercover. On September 28, 2023, Dalke was arrested. As part of his plea agreement, he said he intentionally passed on classified information with the understanding that it would be used to harm the United States.
As Politico writes, citing the case file, in a conversation with an undercover FBI officer, Dalke explained that he was handing over the documents to the agent, wanting to “cause change,” and also because of his debts. During the consideration of the case, the defense of the ex-NSA employee emphasized that the information transmitted to Dalke did not cause any harm to the United States, since it did not fall into the hands of Russian agents.