A federal contractor was arrested and charged with sending classified information to a foreign country — a crime that the Justice Department said could warrant the death penalty.
Abraham Teklu Lemma, a 50-year-old Maryland man, was charged with delivering national defense information to aid a foreign government, conspiracy to deliver national defense information to aid a foreign government, and the willful retention of national defense information.
Lemma is a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Ethiopia, the country he was accused of sending sensitive information to, according to CNN.
“As alleged in the criminal complaint, the classified national defense information Lemma transferred to the foreign official included satellite imagery and other information regarding military activities in the foreign country and region,” the Department of Justice said in a press release.
“The two espionage charges carry a potential penalty of death or any term of years up to life in prison, and the willful retention charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison,” the department added.
Lemma was arrested on August 24, but his arrest was not made public until recently, reported CNN.
He has worked for the federal government since 2019 in various roles, such as a help desk technician at the State Department and as an analyst for the Justice Department, court documents revealed.
The government jobs gave Lemma access to highly classified information. Court documents state he allegedly “copied and pasted information from at least 85 Intelligence Reports regarding many topics — the majority of which relate to the Relevant Country.” He purportedly printed and downloaded highly classified information from the 48 intelligence reports he allegedly accessed.
The government claimed Lemma copied the intelligence reports at least three times onto CDs and DVDs and removed the classified markings from the documents.
Lemma allegedly sent some of the classified material via an encrypted messaging app to an intelligence agent in Ethiopia. According to court documents, the agent allegedly directed Lemma on what information to look for, including “military activities of a rebel group involved in an armed struggle” against the Ethiopian government.
“It’s time to continue [your] support,” the agent purportedly told Lemma in one exchange, according to the Department of Justice.
“Roger that!” Lemma allegedly responded.
Lemma supposedly met with the agent at a hotel in the capital of Ethiopia, per court documents. He allegedly accessed and made copies of classified documents several times during the trip.
Investigators claimed they traced Lemma’s bank records, which showed he deposited money at several different banks after allegedly downloading classified information and meeting with the agent in Ethiopia.
The alleged criminal activity took place between December 19, 2022, and August 7, 2023, according to the Justice Department.
The department’s inspector general and the State Department’s security service are investigating the matter.
Matt Miller, a spokesperson for the State Department, said the discovery of Lemma’s alleged criminal behavior was made during a “self-initiated 60-day Internal Security Review of the Department of State’s Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) network, systems, and applications,” reported CNN.
Lemma has not disclosed if he has an attorney.
