Man accused of trying to pass secret documents to Russians pleads 'not guilty'

Charged with espionage, Jareh Dalke of Colorado Springs pleaded not guilty Tuesday in federal court. He faces the possibility of life in prison or perhaps even the death penalty if convicted.

The former National Security Agency employee is accused of stealing national defense information documents and offering them to what he thought to be a Russian agent for sale. The contact was made online.

Federal prosecutors left court after successfully convincing Magistrate Judge Kato Crews to rule that the defendant could not be trusted to be let free on bond before trial. They claimed he poses a grave risk to national security.

Legal analyst Karen Steinhauser says the espionage charges played a role in the decision to keep Dalke locked up.

"The idea being the more serious the penalty, the more incentive to flee," she told CBS News Colorado.

Dalke was arrested at Denver's Union Station in September. Prosecutors said he was caught "red-handed" passing top secret documents to a person he thought was a Russian agent. It turned out to be an undercover FBI agent.

Prosecutors claimed the motive was $85,000 profit and his ideology to assist Russia. Dalke had indicated to the agent he is of Russian descent and wrote a letter with a greeting in Russian to the agent. Steinhauser added Dalke posed a security risk.

"The person having the information that they do to try to contact others with this information could greatly affect the security of this country," she said.

Testimony in court revealed the search of the Dalke home turned up numerous fake ID badges including ones for the federal government. Dalke's wife was in court but did not comment on the case.

Dalke was employed at the National Security Agency but for only 26 days. During that time the FBI claims he stole numerous top-secret documents that he tried to pass to Russia and could possess even more. No date has been set for his trial.