US

Ex-NSA Employee Arrested For Allegedly Trying To Hand Over Secrets To Undercover FBI Agent

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The FBI arrested a former National Security Agency (NSA) employee Wednesday for allegedly trying to sell classified information to someone he thought represented a foreign government.

Jareh Sebastian Dalke, 30, of Colorado, allegedly used an encrypted email to send three excerpts of classified documents between August and September 2022 to someone who said they worked for a foreign government, but was actually an undercover FBI agent, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Dalke, who served as a information systems security designer, was attempting to prove himself to the agent, who he hoped would purchase secrets with cryptocurrency.

The excerpts included secret and top secret materials, according to the DOJ.

Dalke explained that he was employed by the U.S. government and was on temporary assignment at a field location, according to the DOJ.

Dalke allegedly asked for $85,000 for more government information on or about Aug. 26 and offered future information upon his return to Washington, D.C., according to the DOJ. In Aug. 2022, Dalke applied to return to working at the NSA.

The accused agreed to provide more documents via a FBI secure connection in Denver, Colorado, where he was arrested on Sept. 28, according to the DOJ.

Dalke faces three charges of alleged violations of the Espionage Act, which could potentially result in a death sentence or up to life in prison, according to the DOJ.

A former U.S. Army officer was recently charged with allegedly trying to leak medical information of U.S. servicemembers and their families to Russia.

The NSA declined to comment.