US: Couple accused in submarine espionage case indicted

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Maryland couple arrested earlier this month on charges of trying to sell information about nuclear-powered warships to a foreign country have been indicted, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors say Jonathan and Diana Toebbe are each charged with one count of conspiracy to communicate restricted data and two counts of communication of restricted data.

They were arrested in West Virginia on Oct. 9 and charged in a criminal complaint with violations of the Atomic Energy Act. The couple is due in federal court Wednesday for a detention hearing.

Jonathan Toebbe, a Navy nuclear engineer, is accused of trying to pass information about the design of submarines to someone he thought was a representative of a foreign government but who was actually an undercover FBI agent. Court documents do not reveal the identity of the foreign country he is accused of trying to sell the information to.

Prosecutors say Diana Toebbe accompanied her husband on several instances to pre-arranged “dead-drop” locations at which he left behind memory cards containing the sensitive information.

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This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of a suspect’s first name. It is Diana Toebbe, not Diane.