COLORADO SPRINGS — A Colorado Springs man has been arrested on charges that he attempted to transmit classified national defense information to a foreign government.
Jareh Sebastian Dalke is charged by criminal complaint alleging three violations of the Espionage Act. It is illegal to give or attempt to give national defense information to a foreign nation, with the intention of the information harming the United States. We reached out to the FBI Denver office for comment. They tell us they cannot provide us with further details as they continue to build their case against Dalke. But here’s how this unfolded.
TIMELINE-
(JUNE 6 -JULY 1 2022 )
Dalke worked at the National Security Agency.
(JULY 29 2022)
Dalke tells an individual he has highly sensitive information on foreign targeting of U.S. systems and U.S. cyber operations. Dalke believed he was sending these documents to a foreign power. But he was actually sending these top secrets to an undercover F-B-I agent.
(AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2022)
Dalke used an encrypted email account to send parts of three classified documents he collected during his employment.
(AUGUST 26 2022)
Dalke requests 85,000 dollars in return for more information.
(SEPTEMBER 28TH 2022)
Dalke agrees to send over more top secret information at a specific location in Denver. He is arrested.
We reached out to the National Cybersecurity Center here in the Springs to see how the FBI can work undercover to find criminals like Dalke. They said not all agents are qualified to go undercover.
“To be an Undercover Confidential Employee UCE, a current FBI agent goes to undercover school to understand how to operate within the constitution, when to get approvals to record conversations, have in-person meetings vs virtual meetings, and exchange information/money with the subject,” said the National Cybersecurity Center in a statement to News5.
Those at the National Cybersecurity Center say a big takeaway from this is the U.S. Government is monitoring a lot of sources to ensure that its most sensitive data is protected.
The Espionage Act carries a possible death sentence or a lifelong sentence in jail.
We spoke with some of Dalke's neighbors who witnessed the F-B-I search at Dalke’s house as part of the arrest. They say seeing something like this happen in their neighborhood is alarming.
“This is stuff that you watch on T.V… This is a quiet neighborhood. Things happen but not like that. Nothing like that happens like that here. It was quite the experience," said Jeaanie Fox, a neighbor.
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