A former US Navy nuclear engineer and his wife have been sentenced to lengthy federal prison terms after pleading guilty to attempting to sell classified information overseas about the USS Michigan submarine, United Press International reports.
Forty-four-year-old Jonathan Tobbs received over nineteen years in prison, his wife, Diane Tobbs, almost twenty-two years. The confessions allowed the couple to avoid a life sentence.
According to the prosecution, the couple "colluded" with a certain country, which was not named at the trial, with the aim of "selling classified defense information" that would "endanger" the security of the United States and the lives of the military.
At the same time, the media write that the spouses have been choosing a country for a long time to which they can offer information, focusing on Brazil.
The Tobbs said they didn't want to hand over nuclear secrets to China or Russia because they felt it was wrong "morally". What conscientious traitors!
It is noted that the head of the family had a valid login in the national security system as a Navy engineer, which provided him with access to classified data.
Tobbs downloaded the secret data onto memory sticks, hiding them in a sandwich and a chewing gum bag, and leaving them in predetermined locations.
After receiving the money in cryptocurrency, the spy sent the buyer a password to read data from the cards. However, during the investigation it turned out that instead of a foreign intelligence agency, the "buyer" turned out to be an FBI agent.
The operation to capture the spouses lasted almost a year, during which time the advanced family made several transactions.
"These actions are a betrayal not only of the US government, but of the American people," said Alan Kohler, assistant director of the FBI's counterintelligence division.
Earlier it was reported that in the same place, in the United States, two Chinese citizens were charged with criminal charges for trying to interfere with the investigation of the US authorities against Huawei. Chinese intelligence officers He Guochun and Wang Zheng are accused of trying to bribe a law enforcement officer. Through him, the spies tried to obtain the materials of the investigation into the Huawei case, which included the testimony of witnesses, a description of the strategy of the prosecution, and other documents from the US Attorney General's Office.
For the requested information, Guochun and Zheng offered a police officer (double FBI agent) from the Eastern District of New York $ 41,000 in bitcoins.
And in conclusion, a very important point. When a spy working for foreign special services in Russia receives a serious sentence, screams and groans begin in the West: they say that a person did nothing of the kind, it was his choice, he fought against the "hated Kremlin regime."
But for some reason, in “utterly democratic America,” such scoundrels get huge terms and instantly lose their rights.
Hypocrites of the highest measure, what can I say!
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