Jonathan Toebbe, Espionage-Related Offense, West Virginia 2021

A Maryland nuclear engineer has pleaded guilty to an espionage-related offense, putting the nation’s security at risk.

Jonathan Toebbe, 43, of Annapolis, was arrested on October 9, 2021, after he placed an SD card at a pre-arranged ‘dead drop’ at a location in West Virginia.

According to court documents, Toebbe was an employee of the Department of the Navy who served as a nuclear engineer and was assigned to the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, also known as Naval Reactors. He held an active national security clearance through the Department of Defense, giving him access to ‘Restricted Data’ within the meaning of the Atomic Energy Act.

Restricted Data concerns design, manufacture or utilization of atomic weapons, or production of Special Nuclear Material (SNM), or use of SNM in the production of energy – such as naval reactors. Toebbe worked with and had access to information concerning naval nuclear propulsion including information related to military sensitive design elements, operating parameters and performance characteristics of the reactors for nuclear powered warships.

‘Among the secrets the U.S. government most zealously protects are those related to the design of its nuclear-powered warships,’ said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. ‘The defendant was entrusted with some of those secrets and instead of guarding them, he betrayed the trust placed in him and conspired to sell them to another country for personal profit.’

The defendant, Jonathan Toebbe, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to communicate restricted data related to the design of nuclear-powered warships. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Defendant/Respondent: Jonathan Toebbe

Exact Criminal Charges: Conspiracy to communicate restricted data related to the design of nuclear-powered warships

City and State: Annapolis, Maryland

Exact Date: April 2020, Arrested on October 9, 2021

Sentence or Outcome: Currently pending

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