US gov IT worker pleads guilty to sending Top Secret files to Ethiopia

He swore an allegiance to the US, but he was working for someone else. An IT specialist who worked across US government departments and held Top Secret clearance has pleaded guilty to transmitting sensitive documents to Ethiopia. 

Abraham Teklu Lemma, 53, admitted to the espionage offenses and agreed to a prison term between 120 and 262 months, the Justice Department confirmed on Tuesday.

A naturalized citizen of the US, Lemma, of Maryland, had worked for the US government in different capacities and across different teams, including for the National Reconnaissance Office, State Department (DoS), and Justice Department (DoJ), between 2019 and 2023.

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These roles included working evening hours as an IT help desk technician at the DoS as of 2021, and daytime work at the DoJ as a contract management analyst, according to court documents.

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Lemma had what's known as "downdraft" authority, which is to say that he was permitted to move classified files between classified systems, and unclassified files from classified to unclassified systems.

Crucially, he was only allowed to access classified files on non-DoS systems with written approval that it was part of his official duties, and worked in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) – a secure workplace built for handling classified files.

The criminal complaint [PDF] initially stated that the alleged offending began in July 2022, although the DoJ more recently claimed that it began in 2021. 

It claims Lemma was caught trawling "several" non-DoS classified portals and accessed intelligence reports without the proper authorization to do so.

On various occasions, Lemma, who had held Top Secret security clearance since 2020, copied information from at least 133 intelligence reports without need-to-know authorization, according to court documents.

Prosecutors claimed that the man downloaded more than 100 documents, burned them to CD/DVDs, and deleted their classification markings.

The material Lemma was copying was at the Secret and Top Secret levels, but burned onto discs with green labels, which are approved for employees and are supposed to signify the contents of the discs relating to unclassified material only.

Lemma would allegedly take these discs at the end of his shift and exit the SCIF with them tucked into his jacket pocket.

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On other occasions, he was observed looking at classified material on his PC, then taking handwritten notes before folding the paper and again storing it in his pocket. This continued until around August 2023.

Prosecutors claimed that Lemma began transmitting information to Ethiopian officials via an encrypted messaging app in or around August and September 2022, weeks after the alleged offending began. 

The files included documents, photographs, notes, maps, and information relating to Ethiopia, and officials would ask Lemma to provide details about command centers, logistics centers, military compounds, and other matters.

Communications also covered geopolitical topics, referencing "situations" in an unspecified African country that shares a border with Ethiopia to gain an advantage, and rebel groups involved in conflict with Ethiopia.

Lemma's messages also included encouragement to take action against paramilitary groups that were in conflict with Ethiopia on multiple occasions, say prosecutors.

According to the complaint, one of Lemma's messages said: "We have to finish these people once and for all, otherwise there will never be peace in Ethiopia." Later that day, on December 18, 2021, he wrote: "Please send dro[nes]," after sharing additional information.

Announcing the guilty plea on Tuesday, the Justice Department said many of Lemma’s contacts were senior Ethiopian officials across political, military, and intelligence branches of the government.

Lemma was also accused of storing copies of classified files on his own storage drives, which prosecutors claim were accessed remotely by Ethiopian officials numerous times between April and June 2023.

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The man was additionally caught making several bank deposits exceeding $66,000 throughout the time he was working on behalf of foreign officials.

On one occasion, he was observed "angrily discouraging" bank staff from filing a currency transaction report after trying to deposit a sum greater than $10,000.

"Despite swearing an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States, Abraham Lemma betrayed our country by committing espionage on behalf of the Ethiopian government," said Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director at the FBI's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. 

"By his own admission, Lemma provided classified national defense information to Ethiopian officials, who then used it in military operations during an ongoing conflict. This guilty plea should serve notice that the FBI and our partners will work tirelessly to stop foreign intelligence services, and anyone who decides to work with them, against the interests of the United States." ®