Plea Hearing Scheduled For Navy Nuclear Engineer In Spy Case
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — A plea hearing has been scheduled for a Navy nuclear engineer accused of trying to sell information about nuclear-powered warships to a foreign country.
Jonathan Toebbe and his wife, Diana Toebbe, of Annapolis, Maryland, were arrested last October in West Virginia, and had pleaded not guilty to espionage-related charges that carry life in prison.
Court records show that a plea hearing is scheduled for Jonathan Toebbe for Monday afternoon in federal court in Martinsburg, West Virginia.
Court records did not include further details about the hearing and there is no indication that a hearing has been scheduled for Diana Toebbe.
Prosecutors have alleged that Jonathan Toebbe tried to pass secrets about sophisticated and expensive Virginia-class submarines to someone he thought was a representative of a foreign government but who was actually an undercover FBI agent. The government said Diana Toebbe served as a lookout for her husband at several "dead drop" locations at which sensitive information was left behind.
The country to which Toebbe was allegedly looking to sell the information has not been identified in court documents.
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