Dept. Of Justice: Couple Facing Espionage-Related Charges Allegedly Used Pittsburgh Address In Scheme
By: KDKA-TV News Staff
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A couple out of Maryland is facing espionage-related charges after they allegedly tried to exchange confidential data to an FBI agent posing as a foreign official.
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) arrested 42-year-old Jonathan Toebbe and his wife, 45-year-old Diana Toebbe, on Saturday in West Virginia.
The DOJ accuses Jonathan Toebbe of attempting to contact a foreign official, who he did not know was actually an undercover FBI agent, about nuclear-powered warships.
Toebbe was a nuclear engineer with the Navy.
Officials allege in April of 2020, he sent a package with some of the restricted data and offered more data in exchange for payment to a foreign government.
The package had a return address in Pittsburgh.
Over a year, Toebbe allegedly sent SD cards with encrypted data at drop-off locations in multiple states, and the FBI said they discovered data on submarine nuclear reactors on the cards.
They also accuse his wife of acting as a lookout when Toebbe would drop off the SD cards.
The Toebbes will appear in federal court on Tuesday.
The FBI and Naval Criminal Investigative Service continue to investigate.
