Memory cards in a sandwich: US couple convicted of spying on nuclear submarines 3,700-year-old inscription discovered on ivory crest in Israel

An American couple has been sentenced to about 20 years in prison for trying to sell classified information about nuclear submarines abroad.

Jonathan Toebbe, 44, who worked as a nuclear engineer for the US Navy, has been sentenced to 19 years and three months in prison, the Justice Department said Wednesday (local time). His 46-year-old wife Diana Toebbe was sentenced to 21 years and eight months in prison.

The woman initially tried to downplay her role in the case. After her husband pleaded guilty in February and admitted his wife was involved, she also confessed.

Hidden in the peanut butter sandwich

In April 2020, Jonathan Toebbe sent a packet of classified data to a foreign government to make contact about “information of great value”. This package was intercepted, causing an FBI agent to pose for the couple as a representative of the foreign government.

For months, the pair then gave the undercover FBI agents numerous memory cards containing classified information about nuclear submarine technologies – including hidden in a peanut butter sandwich or a pack of chewing gum, which had been left at prearranged locations. For this, Jonathan Toebbe received payments totaling about $100,000 in cryptocurrencies. The couple was arrested last October. (cpf/sda/afp)