Security News > 2022 > November > Couple sentenced to prison for trying to sell nuclear warship secrets
A Navy nuclear engineer and his wife were sentenced to over 19 years and more than 21 years in prison for attempting to sell nuclear warship design secrets to what they believed was a foreign power agent.
While working as a Navy nuclear engineer, Jonathan Toebbe had access to naval nuclear propulsion information, including military-sensitive design elements, performance characteristics, and other restricted data for nuclear-powered warship reactors.
He served as a nuclear engineer assigned to the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program of the Department of the Navy, which gave him access to restricted naval nuclear reactors data, given that he also held an active national security clearance through the U.S. Defense Department.
"Naval nuclear engineer Jonathan Toebbe was entrusted with our nation's critical secrets and, along with his wife Diana Toebbe, put the security of our country at risk for financial gain," said U.S. Attorney Cindy Chung on Wednesday.
The attempted exchange of restricted nuclear warship data began with a package sent to a foreign government on April 1, 2020, containing "U.S. Navy documents, a letter containing instructions," and an SD card with contact instructions via an encrypted communication platform.
"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 William J. Ihlenfeld II. "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," FBI Special Agent in Charge Mike Nordwall added.