They were not buying a foreign power, but an undercover FBI agent.

An American Navy nuclear submarine engineer and his spouse were charged with trying to sell military secrets abroad.

On Saturday, Jonathan and Diana Toebbe from Maryland were taken into custody by the FBI and Naval Criminal Investigative Service. They are accused of violating The Atomic Energy Act.

The Department of Justice says that the two sold classified information to an agent believing they were working for a foreign country. They then encrypted SD cards and stored the data inside peanut butter sandwiches, chewing gum packets, and Band-Aid wrappers.

They were actually selling to an FBI undercover agent.

Jonathan Toebbe (42), is an employee of the Department of the Navy. He was a nuclear engineer who was assigned to the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. He was granted access to Restricted Data by virtue of his active national security clearance from the U.S. Department of Defense.

According to the DOJ Toebbe was a part of and had access to information about naval nuclear propulsion, including military sensitive design elements and operating parameters, as well as performance characteristics, for reactors that power nuclear-powered warships.

According to the affidavit, Toebbe sent a package on April 1 to a foreign government. It listed a Pittsburgh address and contained a sample of Restricted Data as well as instructions for creating a covert relationship in order to buy more.

A letter with the contents of the package was read to me, as per the criminal complaint. "Please forward this message to your military intelligence agency. This information is of great value for your country, I believe. This isn't a hoax.

The individual began to correspond with him via ProtonMail encrypted email for several months. He reached an agreement to sell Restricted Data, in return for cryptocurrency worth thousands of dollars, it claims. Toebbe used the pseudonym ALICE, while the FBI agent was identified as BOB.

Toebbe received $10,000 in cryptocurrency as a "good-faith" payment on June 8. The Toebbes made a trip to West Virginia on June 26th. There, Diana, a faculty member and humanities teacher from Annapolis, acted as a watchdog. Jonathan concealed an SD card in half of a peanut butter sandwich at a prearranged "dead drop" location.

Jonathan Toebbe received a $20,000 payment in cryptocurrency after he had retrieved the SD card. Jonathan sent the agent an email in return for a decryption code.

The SD card contained restricted data related to submarine nuclear reactors, which was revealed by a review.

He made another dead drop on July 31. This time, he did it in a sealed Band-Aid wrapper that had a Band Aid inside. The Zip Lock bag was empty.

Jonathan dropped off an SD card again in eastern Virginia on Aug. 28th, hiding it in a chewing gum packet. After payment, he received $70k and sent the agent the decryption keys for the card.

The couple was allegedly trying to make a fourth death drop in West Virginia on October 9. However, the FBI waited and then arrested them for espionage.

Toebbe expressed concerns about Toebbe's identity during the correspondence. At one point, Toebbe asked: "Is there any physical signal that you can make to prove your identity? I could possibly plan to visit Washington, D.C. over Memorial Day weekend. I'd be just another tourist among the crowd. Maybe you could fly a flag on your roof?

The agent responded, "We will set up a signal from our main office that can be seen from the street." Toebbe was satisfied with the signal and continued correspondence, according to the affidavit.

According to the affidavit Toebbe was the one who suggested the dead drops. This was to avoid them having to meet physically in person.

He wrote, "Monero gives both us excellent deniability."

He wrote that he had taken the first step and was willing to risk his life for your benefit during the initial negotiations, according to the affidavit.

Toebbe, in his letter to the third dead drop, asks for assistance if he ever has to "need" to leave quickly.

According to the affidavit, she wrote that "Should this ever become necessary, we will always be grateful for your assistance extracting us and our family." "I believe the first step would be an unannounced trip to a third country, with plans to meet your coworkers. This is why we have cash and passports.

He concluded that "one day, when it's safe, maybe two old friends can stumble into one another at a café, share a bottle wine, and laugh about their shared adventures." This is a great idea, but I think it may be impossible due to our mutual security needs.

"Whether we ever meet, I will always remember you for your courage in serving my country and your dedication to helping me."

Toebbe did not identify the foreign power he believed he was dealing, but documents identified it only as "COUNTRY1".

Attorney General Merrick Garland stated that the complaint alleges a plot to send information about the design of nuclear submarines to foreign nations. The FBI, Department of Justice prosecutors and the Naval Criminal Investigative Services were crucial in stopping the plot and taking the first step towards bringing the perpetrators of the crime to justice.

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Title: US Nuclear Sub Engineer & Wife Charged with Selling Military Secrets Hidden In Peanut Butter Sandwiches
Sourced From: toofab.com/2021/10/11/us-nuclear-sub-engineer-and-wife-charged-selling-military-secrets-hidden-peanut-butter-sandwiches/
Published Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2021 18:35:51 +0000

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