Former PA Man, Defense Contractor Tried To Turn Russian Spy: Feds

LANSDALE, PA — A former Lansdale resident and longtime defense contractor with top secret national security clearance has been arrested for attempting to give Russia classified information, federal authorities announced this week.

John Murray Rowe, Jr., 63, now a resident of Lead, South Dakota, was arrested following an undercover FBI investigation. He faces life in prison if convicted.

"If I can’t get a job here then I’ll go work for the other team," Rowe told an FBI agent posing as a Russian spy in an email, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Rowe worked for nearly 40 years as a test engineer for numerous national defense contractors, and had intimate knowledge of the U.S. Air Force’s aerospace technology, authorities said.

Federal officials cited a "number of security violations" in his career that ultimately led up to him being fired after being identified as a potential insider threat. This spurred the FBI's investigation, and an undercover agent posing as a Russian met with Rowe in March of 2020, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

From March through November of 2020, Rowe and the fake agent exchanged more than 300 emails which authorities said confirmed Rowe's desire to provide classified information. In one email, Rowe discussed the "specific operating details" of electronic countermeasure systems used by military fighter jets, according to officials.

Rowe planned to travel from South Dakota to Philadelphia to meet with another Russian agent after the 2020 election, according to further emails outlined in the criminal complaint.

"I like that [residence located in the Philadelphia area], I’m going to book a room there," Rowe wrote. "Hopefully I’ll get there on time, I’m still looking for those classified documents I have laying around here somewhere. ... Reading the stuff on RT news [a Russian media outlet], it looks like the rest of the world is ready to get rid of the United State government and their phony money."

The FBI Philadelphia Field Office led the investigation into Rowe, and partnered with other agencies around the nation, including the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations

Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Wolfe and Justice Department Trial Attorney Scott Claffee of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section will prosecute the case.

Rowe made his first appearance in federal court in South Dakota on Friday.