Navy engineer and wife found guilty Tuesday of trying to sell information about nuclear submarines Until the judge who was sent to sentence refused, saying their plea bargain was not harsh enough.
Jonathan Tove98} and his schoolteacher wife Diana were arrested in October and pleaded guilty to espionage charges in February.
In a series of dead drops in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, Jonathan Tove used military secrets to believe he was an agent of another country, but was in fact an agent of another country. In the past he passed it on to someone who was an undercover FBI agent. He said. In one of his exchanges, he hid his memory card inside his peanut butter sandwich, according to court documents.
Diana Toebbe admitted that she was monitoring her husband at a secret location when he deposited her classified documents.
Jonathan Tove's outreach to foreign governments, although not named in court documents, was reported in April 2020. It started when he sent navy and parcels. Documentation and instructions on how to contact him.
According to the criminal complaint, Jonathan Tove wrote, "We believe this information is of great value to your country."
months later, the FBI contacted her Toebbe under the guise of an agent from another country. The FBI has not disclosed how it obtained the package, but the New York Times reports that Brazilian officials alerted the FBI after receiving the package. .
Jonathan Toebbe demanded tens of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency in exchange for documentation on the design of a nuclear submarine. He also told his contacts that he and his wife may need help fleeing the country. citing messages between the couple and their wives, they were successful in keeping the couple in custody during the case.However, Diana Tove's attorneys said prosecutors presented the messages out of context, citing messages between the United States and their wives. She said her desire to leave was based on her dislike of then-President Trump and not on her husband's attempts to sell classified information abroad.
At Tuesday's hearing, the judge asked Justice Department attorneys why the sentence was not harsh given the national security risks, and opposed the sentencing proposed in the plea bargain. The government wanted a maximum of 17.5 years for Jonathan Tebbe and a maximum of 3 years for Diana Tebbe.
Prosecutors said Jonathan Toebbe revealed information classified at the top secret level, not top secret or top secret. He was also the mastermind behind the scheme: he smuggled documents out of secure facilities, set up encrypted email accounts and cryptocurrency wallets, lobbied foreign countries, and served dead drops.
They claimed that Diana Toebbe was simply acting as a lookout, standing by her husband with her hands on her hips while he dead-dropped.
"She will be labeled a spy for the rest of her life," prosecutor Jarrod Douglas said of the former teacher. The judge didn't think it was enough punishment. The judge also noted that Jonathan's Tove sentence based on this transaction felt short.
"Defense Counsel, it is not in the best interests of this community, or indeed this country, to accept these plea bargains. Therefore, I reject them. …I can't find any justification, I accept either of these plea bargains."
The Toebbes, both wearing orange jumpsuits and handcuffs, said their He has withdrawn his guilty plea and the case will go to trial early next year.
- In:
- Spies
- US Navy
- US Department of Justice
- FBI
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