Ex- Navy engineer's wife who acted as lookout during information drops pleads guilty to submarine spy scheme
The wife of a former Navy engineer, accused in an unusual case of espionage, pleaded guilty Friday to attempting to sell classified design information related to U.S. nuclear-powered submarines as part of an agreement with federal prosecutors.
She is expected to serve three years in prison.
Diana Toebbe, a 46-year-old Annapolis, Maryland school teacher, entered her plea just days after husband Jonathan Toebbe, 43, did the same, resolving an investigation involving unlikely operatives and an undisclosed nation that ultimately tipped U.S. authorities to the couple's initial solicitation.
Under terms of a separate agreement made public Monday, Jonathan Toebbe is expected to serve a prison term of slightly more than 12 years. Both faced a maximum punishment of life in prison.
The plea agreements, while separate from each other, require the couple to assist authorities in the recovery of $100,000 in crypto-currency the FBI provided during the course of the investigation. The Toebbes concealed some of the information at pre-arranged drop sites in a peanut butter sandwich and gum wrappers.
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At Friday's brief court hearing, Diana Toebbe acknowledged that she had served as a "lookout" for her husband during three of those drops in June, July and October last year.
The Maryland couple, according to court documents, believed they were trading information to representatives of the foreign nation, which has yet to be identified, when they were actually communicating with and acting at the direction of an undercover FBI agent.
At one point during the months-long investigation, Toebbe referred to his wife when asked by an undercover FBI agent if he was working alone.
"There is only one other person I know who is aware of our special relationship, and I trust that person absolutely,” Toebbe said, apparently referring to his wife.