Page 4 - aruba-today-20220928

A4 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 28 september 2022
Maryland couple plead guilty in submarine secrets sale case

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) ginia.
— A U.S. Navy nuclear en- None of the information
gineer and his wife entered was classified as top secret
new guilty pleas Tuesday in or secret, falling into a third
a case involving an alleged category considered confi-
plot to sell secrets about dential, according to previ-
nuclear-powered warships, ous testimony.
a month after their previous The FBI has said the scheme
plea agreements that had began in April 2020, when
called for specific sentenc- Jonathan Toebbe sent a
ing guidelines were reject- package of Navy docu-
ed. ments to a foreign govern-
Jonathan and Diana Toe- ment and wrote that he
bbe of Annapolis, Mary- was interested in selling to
land, pleaded guilty in fed- that country operations
eral court in Martinsburg, manuals, performance re-
West Virginia, to one felony ports and other sensitive
count each of conspiracy information. He included in
to communicate restricted the package, which had a
data. Pittsburgh return address,
U.S. District Judge Gina instructions to his supposed
Groh last month rejected contact for how to estab-
the couple's initial pleas lish a covert relationship
to the same charges, say- with him, prosecutors said.
ing the sentencing options These booking photos released Oct. 9, 2021, by the West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional That package was ob-
were "strikingly deficient" Facility Authority show Diana Toebbe, left, and Jonathan Toebbe. tained by the FBI in Decem-
considering the seriousness Associated Press ber 2020 through its legal
of the case. The couple attaché office in the un-
then immediately withdrew ana Toebbe. their guilty pleas. time of the couple's ar- specified foreign country.
their initial guilty pleas and Under the latest plea Prosecutors said Jonathan rest last October, was ac- That set off a monthslong
Groh set trial for January. agreement entered Tues- Toebbe, 43, abused his ac- cused of acting as a look- undercover operation in
The previous sentencing day before U.S. Magistrate cess to top-secret govern- out at several prearranged which an agent posing as
range agreed to by law- Judge Robert Trumble, the ment information and re- "dead-drop" locations at a representative of a for-
yers for Jonathan Toebbe couple would each face peatedly sold details about which memory cards con- eign country made con-
had called for a poten- a maximum sentence of the design elements and taining the secret informa- tact with Toebbe, ultimate-
tial punishment between life in prison and a $100,000 performance character- tion were left behind. ly paying $100,000 in cryp-
roughly 12 years and 17 fine, although prosecutors istics of Virginia-class sub- The memory cards were tocurrency in exchange
years in prison. Prosecu- are asking for a sentence marines to someone he be- devices concealed in ob- for the information Toebbe
tors said Tuesday that such for Diana Toebbe at the lieved was a representative jects such as a chewing was offering.
a sentence would be one lowest end of the guideline of a foreign government gum wrapper and a pea- The country to which he
of the most significant im- range. but who was actually an nut butter sandwich. The was looking to sell the infor-
posed in modern times un- If the court doesn't accept undercover FBI agent. couple was arrested after mation has not been iden-
der the Atomic Energy Act the latest agreement, the Diana Toebbe, 46, who he placed a memory card tified in court documents
of 1954. Prosecutors also defendants would again was teaching at a private at a dead drop location in and was not disclosed in
sought three years for Di- have the right to withdraw school in Maryland at the Jefferson County, West Vir- court.q

Patrol spots Chinese, Russian naval ships off Alaska island

By MARK THIESSEN ter) vessel, observed as the operate in and around U.S. China has declared itself
Associated Press ships broke formation and waters. a "near Arctic" state and
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) dispersed. A C-130 Hercu- The Kimball will continue to plans to build the world's
— A U.S. Coast Guard ship les provided air support for monitor the area. largest icebreaker, he said.
on routine patrol in the the Kimball from the Coast The Coast Guard did not "Beijing and Moscow have
Bering Sea came across a Guard station in Kodiak. immediately respond to also pledged to intensify
guided missile cruiser from "While the formation has questions about the inci- practical cooperation in
China, officials said Mon- operated in accordance dent from The Associated the Arctic. This forms part
day. with international rules and Press. of a deepening strategic
But it turned out the cruiser norms, we will meet pres- The Chinese and Russian partnership that challenges
wasn't alone as it sailed ence with presence to en- formation came a month our values and interests,"
about 86 miles (138 kilome- sure there are no disruptions after NATO Secretary Stoltenberg said in a visit to
ters) north of Alaska's Kiska to U.S. interests in the mari- General Jens Stoltenberg Canada's north.
Island, on Sept. 19. time environment around warned about China's in- This wasn't the first time
Two other Chinese naval Alaska," Rear Adm. Nathan terest in the Arctic and Rus- Chinese naval ships have
ships and four Russian na- Moore, Seventeenth Coast sia's military buildup there. sailed near Alaska waters.
In this photo provided by the val vessels, including a Guard District commander Stoltenberg said Russia has In September 2021, Coast
U.S. Coast Guard, a Coast destroyer, were spotted in said. set up a new Arctic Com- Guard cutters in the Ber-
Guard Cutter Kimball crew- single formation, the patrol The Coast Guard said Op- mand and has opened ing Sea and North Pacific
member observes a foreign boat, known as a cutter eration Frontier Sentinel hundreds of new and for- Ocean encountered Chi-
vessel in the Bering Sea, Mon- called Kimball, discovered. guidelines call for meeting mer Soviet-era Arctic mili- nese ships, about 50 miles
day, Sept. 19, 2022.
Associated Press The Honolulu-based Kim- "presence with presence" tary sites, including deep- (80 kilometers) off the Aleu-
ball, a 418-foot (127-me- when strategic competitors water ports and airfields. tian Islands.q