Ex-NSA employee in Colorado sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison for attempting to sell secrets to Russia

DENVER — A former National Security Agency employee from Colorado was sentenced Monday to nearly 22 years in federal prison in connection with his attempt to sell American secrets to the Russians.

Jareh Sebastian Dalke, 32, of Colorado Springs, pleaded guilty in October to six counts of attempting to transmit national defense information to a foreign government. A federal judge sentenced him to 262 months in prison.

“This defendant, who had sworn an oath to defend our country, believed he was selling classified national security information to a Russian agent, when in fact, he was outing himself to the FBI,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a news release.

Dalke, as part of a plea deal, admitted to transmitting files in 2022 to an undercover FBI agent with the intent to injure the United States and benefit Russia, according to the agreement.

That year, he used an encrypted email account to send classified documents to the undercover agent, believing them to be a Russian official, authorities said. He believed he would receive $85,000 for the act.

Dalke then arranged to transfer additional information to the supposed agent at Denver’s Union Station.

“This sentence should serve as a stark warning to all those entrusted with protecting national defense information that there are consequences to betraying that trust,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in the news release.