By Erika Hernandez
24 Oct 2023, 18:27 PM EDT
A former employee of the Colorado National Security Agency pleaded guilty Monday to attempting to sell classified information to Russia.
Federal prosecutors agreed not to seek more than 22 years in prison for Jareh Sebastian Dalke when he is sentenced in April, but the judge will ultimately decide the punishment.
Dalke, a 31-year-old Army veteran from Colorado Springswas facing a possible life sentence for giving information to a man he believed was a Russian agent, but was actually an undercover FBI agent.
The man pleaded guilty during a hearing before the US District Judge Raymond Moore. He spoke only in response to the judge’s questions about whether he understood the terms of the agreement and acknowledged that he has been taking medication for mental illness while in custody for about a year.
Dalke was arrested on Sept. 28, 2022, after authorities said he arrived at the downtown Denver train station with a laptop and used a secure connection established by investigators to transfer some classified documents.
According to the indictment, the information that Dalke intended to give to Russia included a threat assessment of the military offensive capabilities of an unidentified third country. It also included a description of sensitive defense capabilities of USA, some of which relate to that same foreign country.
He also allegedly told the undercover agent that he had debts of $237,000 and that he decided to work with Russia because his heritage “ties to his country.”
Before Dalke transferred the classified information, he sent a thank-you letter that opened and closed in Russian and said he looked forward to “our friendship and shared benefit,” according to court documents reviewed by The Associated Press.
Dalke worked as a security designer for information systems for the NSAthe US intelligence agency that collects and analyzes signals from domestic and foreign sources for intelligence and counterintelligence purposes.
After leaving and giving the classified information to the undercover agent, prosecutors say he reapplied for a job at the NSA.
During a hearing last year, Dalke’s federal public defender downplayed the man’s access to classified information since he only worked at the NSA for less than a month.
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