A former U.S. government contractor has admitted passing some of America’s most closely guarded intelligence to senior officials in Ethiopia.

And this was not a one-time lapse or a careless mishandling case.

According to federal prosecutors, Abraham Teklu Lemma used his trusted access for more than two years to collect and transmit dozens of classified documents, photographs, notes, and other materials — some marked Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said Lemma pleaded guilty to conspiring to transmit national defense information to a foreign government. He had worked as an information technology contractor at the State Department, Justice Department, and National Reconnaissance Office while holding a Top Secret clearance.

Prosecutors say the conspiracy ran from 2021 until Lemma’s arrest in August 2023. Much of the intelligence concerned an armed conflict in Ethiopia, and the recipients allegedly included senior figures in the Ethiopian government’s political, military, and intelligence branches.

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The mechanics are especially alarming. Lemma admitted writing classified information by hand and carrying the notes out of secure federal facilities.

As an IT administrator, he also removed electronic classified material from protected government repositories and then took it outside the secure facilities where he worked.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro put the betrayal in blunt terms.

There is another detail that makes this case even darker.

Federal prosecutors say Lemma did more than send secrets. On December 18, 2021, he urged one Ethiopian contact to finish paramilitary fighters “once and for all.” Later that day, after transmitting more information, he wrote: “Please send Dro[nes].”

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said Lemma hoped Ethiopian officials would use the stolen information to target and kill paramilitary fighters in the regional conflict. That is an extraordinary abuse of access entrusted to someone inside the U.S. government.

The FBI’s Washington Field Office emphasized the volume and sensitivity of the material involved.

The guilty plea is also a major turn from the case’s beginning. The Justice Department’s 2023 charging release said Lemma had been arrested after investigators accused him of copying classified intelligence reports, removing classification markings, and transmitting information to a foreign official through an encrypted application.

The original complaint focused on activity between December 2022 and August 2023. It said the material included satellite imagery and other intelligence about military activity in the region.

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Investigators also described messages in which the foreign official asked Lemma to continue his support and Lemma replied, “Roger that!” The initial case included two espionage counts and a charge of willfully retaining national defense information.

At that stage, the allegations still had to be proven. Now Lemma has admitted to the conspiracy charge.

If the court accepts the plea agreement, he has agreed to serve between 120 and 262 months in prison — a range of 10 years to nearly 22 years.

Senior U.S. District Judge John D. Bates scheduled sentencing for April 14, 2027.

This case is a reminder of just how much damage one trusted insider can do. The government can build layers of security around its most sensitive information, but those defenses still depend on the people granted access honoring their oath.

Lemma admitted that he did the opposite.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

 

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