A couple have admitted to trying to sell the US's most sensitive nuclear submarine secrets.
Navy engineer Jonathan Toebbe and teacher Diana, from Maryland, have pleaded guilty after trying to sell secrets about US submarine nuclear systems to a foreign country.
The husband and wife admitted to selling classified documents in August but a judge turned down their plea deal, admitting it was too soft.
Vice Admiral William Houston, who is in charge of the Atlantic submarine fleet, was ordered to give evidence as a witness.
He confirmed Jonathan had smuggled some of ‘the most secure and sensitive information about our nuclear powered fleet’.
William said: "A critical component of the national defence has been irreparably compromised."
The pair began their crimes in April 2020 when they started to send an undisclosed foreign government a pack of Navy documents.
Jonathan wrote: "Please forward this letter to your military intelligence agency. I believe this information will be of great value to your nation. This is not a hoax."
The engineer added he would be interested in selling top-secrets from the Navy such as performance charts and operations manuals.
He even offered to give them instructions on how to contact him discreetly.
The pair then sent the classified documents to different locations in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Jonathan spent a year downloading top secret documents and saving them onto SD card which he would try and hide in objects such as chewing gum and peanut butter sandwiches.
He told an undercover FBI agent he had been doing this for many years and even smuggled them through security.
However, his case was soon uncovered when the country he was in contact with contacted the FBI who posed as a representative for the government in a sting operation.
A payment of $100,000 (£93,000) in cryptocurrency was paid in exchange for the documents before the pair were arrested.
Jonathan could face between 12-17 years in prison and his wife 3 years along with $100,000 fines each.
The couple, who have two children, had a 'go-bag' which had their children's passports, $11,000 (£10,200) in cash, a computer, and a cryptocurrency wallet.
Officers found the items during their search and believe they were attempting to leave the country.
