NSA Worker Tried To Sell US Secrets To Foreign Official Who Turned Out To Be An FBI Agent

A former National Security Agency (NSA) worker is accused of trying to sell classified information to a foreign government official. According to The Department of Justice (DOJ), Jareh Sebastian Dalke, 30, was arrested in Denver, Colorado.

The DOJ has reported that Dalke, who worked as an information systems security designer at the NSA, was caught after he liaised with an undercover FBI agent, thinking he was a foreign government representative.

The report said that Dalke had used an encrypted account to send excerpts of U.S. classified documents to someone he thought was a foreign official, but was actually an FBI agent.

Per the DOJ complaint, Dalke was carrying excerpts of three classified documents he had obtained during his employment at the NSA. 

Dalke arranged to transfer the classified information in his possession to the FBI agent at a location in Denver, Colorado. The FBI arrested Dalke on Sept. 28, after Dalke arrived at the specified location.

According to the DOJ criminal complaint, Dalke sent excerpts of the documents to the agent, including their classification markings, as a "small sample of what is possible."

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Dalke had also sent the FBI agent a four-page document containing information on an unnamed foreign leader as a "show of good faith," saying he was "willing to provide full documents without reservation."

The DOJ complaint states the undercover FBI agent paid Dalke around $16,000 in cryptocurrency he requested. Later, Dalke asked for $85,000 to hand over the files he had on hand.

Dalke faces charges involving three violations of the Espionage Act, which makes it a crime to transmit or attempt to transmit NDI to a representative of a foreign nation with intent or reason to believe that information could be used to the injury of the U.S. or the advantage of a foreign nation. 

The Espionage Act carries a potential death sentence or any term up to life.

Photo: Coutesy of Dale Cruse on flickr