Espionage Crimes Prompt Arrest Of Annapolis Couple Accused Of Selling Secret Data: Report

ANNAPOLIS, MD — An Annapolis couple was arrested over the weekend on espionage-related charges, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. Officials identified the suspects as Jonathan Toebbe, 42, and Diana Toebbe, 45.

Authorities accused the duo of trying to sell restricted government data to a person who they thought was a representative of another country. Prosecutors disclosed that the buyer was really an undercover FBI agent.

The secret information contained details on the design of nuclear-powered warships, the government said. Toebbe is a nuclear engineer for the Department of the Navy who had a national security clearance through the Department of Defense, a news release said.

Prosecutors alleged that Jonathan Toebbe on April 1, 2020, sent a foreign government a sample of the restricted data and instructions on how to covertly buy more information. The undercover agent and Jonathan Toebbe communicated through encrypted emails for several months to organize multiple sales worth thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency.

The agent sent a $10,000 "good faith" cryptocurrency payment on June 8, 2021, officials said.

The incident report said the couple then went to West Virginia on June 26 to drop an encrypted SD card hidden in half a peanut butter sandwich. Jonathan Toebbe hid the sandwich while Diana Toebbe was on the lookout. That deal netted a $20,000 cryptocurrency payment in exchange for the decryption key.

Jonathan Toebbe placed another SD card hidden in a chewing gum package in eastern Virginia on Aug. 28 for $70,000 in cryptocurrency, the prosecution said.

The FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service arrested the suspects Saturday in Jefferson County, West Virginia, after Jonathan Toebbe planted another SD card in the state, authorities said.

Officials charged the Toebbes with violating the Atomic Energy Act. They have their first federal court appearances Tuesday in Martinsburg, West Virginia, the report specified.

"The work of the FBI, Department of Justice prosecutors, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Department of Energy was critical in thwarting the plot charged in the complaint and taking this first step in bringing the perpetrators to justice," Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in the release.

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