SIGforum.comMain PageThe Lounge Navy nuclear engineer and wife arrested on espionage charges for trying to sell submarine secrets to foreign power by way of a peanut butter sandwich
... Jonathan Toebbe, 42, and his wife Diana, 45, were arrested in West Virginia on Saturday, by the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The couple from Annapolis, Maryland, allegedly "sold information known as Restricted Data concerning the design of nuclear-powered warships to a person they believed was a representative of a foreign power," according to the Justice Department. ...
Posts: 45755 | Location: Pennsyltucky | Registered: December 05, 2001
I'm assuming China? Their embassies/consulates here in the USA are jam-packed with "Defense Attaches" on diplomatic visas. Because, you know, there's so much military cooperation and liaison between us and the Chinese, meriting a large PLA staff.
'After an undercover agent reportedly sent $10,000 in cryptocurrency to Jonathan Toebbe as a "good faith" payment, the couple allegedly traveled to West Virginia in June. That's when Jonathan presented a peanut butter sandwich at a pre-arranged "dead drop" location, where Diana was a supposed lookout.'
Coupla goobers. Gotcha!
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Posts: 16338 | Location: Florida | Registered: June 23, 2003
I genuinely think letting them rot in a supermax prison is worse than execution. 23 hour lockdown, your one hour is not outside. Limited to no conversation with others. Many people are literally nuts after just a few years of that.
The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything.
Posts: 53447 | Location: Texas | Registered: February 10, 2004
Originally posted by DennisM: I'm assuming China? Their embassies/consulates here in the USA are jam-packed with "Defense Attaches" on diplomatic visas. Because, you know, there's so much military cooperation and liaison between us and the Chinese, meriting a large PLA staff.
Doesn't sound like he managed to actually find a buyer for any of the data. Looks like the FBI caught his attempts early, and set up an undercover agent to set up all the buys.
Posts: 13068 | Location: Orange County, California | Registered: May 19, 2002
Originally posted by jhe888: I genuinely think letting them rot in a supermax prison is worse than execution. 23 hour lockdown, your one hour is not outside. Limited to no conversation with others. Many people are literally nuts after just a few years of that.
I played a round of golf one time with the warden about 20 years ago in CoSpgs.
Friend of mine was joking about meeting Ted Kaczynski, Ted Bundy, all the black hats in there, and the warden’s demeanor took a turn to the serious like he would not believe; mentioning that you would never want these people to even know you’re freaking name.
Changed the whole tenor of the game dammit. Things were back to normal by the 17th hole finally.
"Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty." ~Robert A. Heinlein
Posts: 26758 | Location: dughouse | Registered: February 04, 2003
Hedley Lamarr: Wait, wait, wait. I'm unarmed. Bart: Alright, we'll settle this like men, with our fists. Hedley Lamarr: Sorry, I just remembered . . . I am armed.
Posts: 6919 | Location: Atlanta | Registered: April 23, 2006
Originally posted by jhe888: I genuinely think letting them rot in a supermax prison is worse than execution. 23 hour lockdown, your one hour is not outside. Limited to no conversation with others. Many people are literally nuts after just a few years of that.
Given our nation’s deficit, I’d be ok with the cheapest solution: 15ft of rope. Hell, you can even reuse it and get a twofer out of it, ladies first.
______________________________________________ “There are plenty of good reasons for fighting, but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty Himself hates with you, too.”
Originally posted by Rev. A. J. Forsyth: Someone educate me...Can this guy be executed for treason like the Rosenbergs?
Per Wikipedia, this is how they got the Rosenbergs:
quote:
On March 29, 1951, the Rosenbergs were convicted of espionage. They were sentenced to death on April 5 under Section 2 of the Espionage Act of 1917,[29] which provides that anyone convicted of transmitting or attempting to transmit to a foreign government "information relating to the national defense" may be imprisoned for life or put to death.[30]
If this law is still on the books, then probably yes.
Posts: 15243 | Location: North Carolina | Registered: October 15, 2007
Helping the Soviets build their own atomic bombs was perhaps the worst act of espionage that could have been committed by Americans, but theirs were the only death sentences for espionage in modern times.* Other “atomic spies” working for the Reds didn’t suffer the same fate, nor have others who were convicted of espionage that could have had extremely serious consequences—and still may.
* There were a lot of protests against the executions of the Rosenbergs at the time, including claims that they weren’t guilty. I have long thought that those efforts were ironic given the Soviets’ treatment of anyone caught spying there for foreign powers or even much less serious crimes. Once again, what’s that I hear from the American Left? >Only crickets.<
► 6.4/93.6
“ Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one’s own understanding without another’s guidance. This nonage is self-imposed if its cause lies not in lack of understanding but in indecision and lack of courage to use one’s own mind without another’s guidance.” — Immanuel Kant
Posts: 48020 | Location: 10,150 Feet Above Sea Level in Colorado | Registered: April 04, 2002
Before we get to the hanging part…I’d like to know if the fbi was involved in entrapping them like they have done in the past ie: let’s kidnap a governor and execute her….
Edited for spellingThis message has been edited. Last edited by: MikeinNC,
"Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.” Robert A. Heinlein
“You may beat me, but you will never win.” sigmonkey-2020
“A single round of buckshot to the torso almost always results in an immediate change of behavior.” Chris Baker
Originally posted by DennisM: I'm assuming China? Their embassies/consulates here in the USA are jam-packed with "Defense Attaches" on diplomatic visas. Because, you know, there's so much military cooperation and liaison between us and the Chinese, meriting a large PLA staff.
Could be wrong but I don't think it was China. This country actually notified the US government of this attempt to sell to them. Article also said this country already has nuclear subs. I doubt China would notify the US government and then HELPED the FBI to set them up to be captured (at FBI's request, this country agreed to fly a signal flag from their embassy in DC as a trusted signal for this couple).
Yeah, well, to the wannabe spies, I say black lives matter, but your aren't worth a bucket of warm piss now. Enjoy prison. You'll have a chance to put your philosophy into action in there.
SIGforum.comMain PageThe Lounge Navy nuclear engineer and wife arrested on espionage charges for trying to sell submarine secrets to foreign power by way of a peanut butter sandwich