An undercover FBI agent exposed a Navy nuclear engineer’s alleged intentions to leak information about American nuclear-powered submarines to foreign governments, The Washington Post reported. On Saturday, Jonathan Toebbe, 42, and his wife, Diana, 45, were arrested in West Virginia for espionage-related charges after completing a prearranged “dead drop” of info, including details of the “design, operations, and performance of Virginia-class nuclear submarine reactors.” Toebbe dropped off the materials (which he allegedly hid in half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, of all places) while his wife acted as a lookout, according to the criminal complaint. The court papers allege that the engineer then sent a package to what he thought was a foreign government, but in actuality turned out to be an FBI agent, containing samples of U.S. secrets along with instructions for how to further their communication. “Please forward this letter to your military intelligence agency,” read the letter in the package. “I believe this information will be of great value to your nation. This is not a hoax.” Toebbe and his wife were charged with conspiracy to communicate restricted data and communication of restriction data.
