US couple jailed for trying to sell sensitive military secrets to foreign country  

A former US naval officer and his wife were convicted and jailed for selling military secrets to an unnamed foreign country.Jonathan Toebbe, 42, was caught stealing secrets about nuclear-powered submarines.While Toebbe, who was the chief engineer at the office of the chief of naval operations, was given 18 years prison sentence, his wife Diana received a harsher sentence of 21 years for helping him and then attempting to cover up her role.

According to the court documents, over several months Toebbe provided nuclear secrets containing thousands of pages to undercover FBI agents who pretended to be representing the foreign nation.

According to the commander of US submarine forces, Vice AdmiralWilliam J Houston, the data included “some of the most secure and sensitive information about our nuclear-powered fleet”, reports the Washington Post newspaper.

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West Virginia US District Judge Gina M Groh, who was hearing the case, called Toebbes and his wife “confessed traitors” who committed “horrible acts against this nation.”

Groh said that the couple’s crime was one of the most serious she had ever witnessedin her courtroom, with “potential for harm to US soldiers, the military, civilians.”

The judge said that Diana was given a harsher sentence because she obstructed justice and was not entitled to a reduction in her prison term for accepting responsibility.

"The harm to this nation is grave, and these are scary times we live in," the judge said at the sentencing hearing.

During the hearing, Diana was caught passing a letter to her husband reportedly urging him to follow the plan of absolving her of any wrongdoing.

The judge, whonoticed the whole act, said, “She wanted [her husband] to lie.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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