Getty Image
A 32-year-old former Information Systems Security Designer for the National Security Agency (NSA) was sentenced to almost 22 years in prison this week for attempting to give classified National Defense Information (NDI) to Russia.
Jareh Sebastian Dalke of Colorado Springs was sentenced on Monday to 262 months in prison after pleading guilty to six counts of espionage.
Between August and September 2022, Dalke admitted using an encrypted email account to transmit excerpts of three classified documents, all classified as Top Secret//Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI), to a person he thought was an agent of the Russian Federation.
According to a Department of Justice press release, Jareh Dalke said he did so to demonstrate his “legitimate access and willingness to share” with Russia.
Little did he know that instead he was displaying his “willingness to share” with an undercover FBI agent.
“On or about Aug. 26, 2022, Dalke requested $85,000 in return for all the information in his possession,” the Department of Justice press release explains. “Dalke claimed the information would be of value to Russia and told the FBI online covert employee that he would share more information in the future, once he returned to the Washington, D.C.-area.
“Dalke subsequently arranged to transfer additional classified information in his possession to the purported Russian agent at Union Station in downtown Denver. Using a laptop computer and the instructions provided by the FBI online covert employee, Dalke transferred five files, four of which contain Top Secret NDI. The other file was a letter, which begins (in Russian and Cyrillic characters) “My friends!” and states, in part, “I am very happy to finally provide this information to you… I look forward to our friendship and shared benefit. Please let me know if there are desired documents to find and I will try when I return to my main office.”
“The FBI arrested Dalke on Sept. 28, 2023, moments after he transmitted the files.”
According to his plea agreement, Jareh Dalke admitted that he willfully transmitted files to the agent of a foreign government with the intent or reason to believe the information was to be used to injure the United States and to benefit a foreign nation.
Dalke, who has a Bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance, was a member of the United States Army from 2015 to 2018 and received a Secret security clearance in 2016.
While working for the NSA from June 6, 2022 to July 1, 2022, Dalke held a Top Secret security clearance as well as sensitive compartmented access to other highly classified programs.
He resigned from his position on June 28, 2022 after a request for a nine-month leave of absence was denied. Around September 28, 2022 he was re-hired after re-applying for employment with the NSA.
He told the undercover FBI agent that he was in financial need and ended up receiving for payments each of around $16,500 in cryptocurrency.
“This defendant, who had sworn an oath to defend our country, believed he was selling classified national security information to a Russian agent, when in fact, he was outing himself to the FBI,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “This sentence demonstrates that that those who seek to betray our country will be held accountable for their crimes. I am grateful to the FBI Denver and Washington Field Offices for their extraordinary work on this case.”