Jareh Sebastian Dalke, former NSA employee from Colorado, charged with trying to send classified documents to Russia

The FBI has arrested and charged a Colorado Springs man with trying to send classified documents to the Russian foreign service, according to federal court documents.

Jareh Sebastian Dalke, 30, was scheduled to appear in federal court in Denver on Thursday afternoon on charges of attempting to transmit national defense information to an officer or agent of a foreign government.

He was charged last month, but court documents were only made public this week.

They indicate Dalke sent classified documents to an "FBI Online Covert Employee" in exchange for money. Dalke believed that FBI employee was a foreign government representative.

He's accused of attempting to send classified documents to the Russian SVR, or Foreign Intelligence Service.

The FBI says Dalke was a volunteer with the Colorado Rangers, a reserve law enforcement agency, and a former employee of the U.S. National Security Agency. Dalke, in his resume, described himself as a lieutenant and commander of the digital crimes unit of the Colorado Rangers, according to court documents.

Colonel Ronald M Abramson, agency chief for the Colorado Rangers, confirmed to CBS News Colorado that Dalke had been associated with the Rangers' reserve force, which has a little over 70 reserve officers. Dalke started working with the Rangers in 2019 after passing a full background check and psychological evaluation.

"We are enormously disappointed in the allegations but we have to wait for the federal process to run its course," he told CBS News Colorado.  

He said his agency is learning of this at the same time everyone else is. Dalke is suspended, pending a resolution of the case.

Dalke identified himself as a lieutenant of their digital crimes unit but no such unit exists, according to Abramson. He went on to say that Dalke is a sergeant who lead a small team of reserve officers. Dalke was based in Colorado Springs and had done work for Monument Police and Woodland Park Police in the past.

In his communications with the FBI's undercover employee, Dalke allegedly reached out to what he thought was a Russian agent, saying he, "recently learned that my heritage ties back to your country, which is part of why I have come to you."

He goes on to explain his reasoning for wanting to share documents from the NSA and at least two other American federal agencies, saying he, "questioned our role in damage to the world in the past and by mixture of curiosity for secrets and a desire to cause change."

Some of the material Dalke is accused of sending was unclassified, but others were labeled "secret" and "top secret," according to court documents. Some of them are specifically labeled "NOFORN," meaning sending them to non-US citizens is prohibited by federal law.

The NSA did an internal audit to find who accessed the documents that were sent to the undercover FBI agent, and its audit determined that Dalke was the only employee, according to the FBI.

Dalke could face the death penalty or life in prison if convicted.

Both the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment on the case Thursday.