Ex-Federal Contractor Admits Passing Top Secret Files to Ethiopia

A former information technology contractor who worked inside the State Department, the Justice Department and the National Reconnaissance Office has admitted to spying for the government of Ethiopia, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

Abraham Teklu Lemma of Maryland pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transmit national defense information to a foreign government, according to a Justice Department press release. Under his plea agreement, Lemma has agreed to serve between 120 and 262 months in prison if the court accepts the deal, the department said. Sentencing is set for April 14, 2027.

Case update from @FBIWFO: Former U.S. Government Contractor Pleads Guilty to Spying for Ethiopia

Abraham Teklu Lemma, 53, of Maryland, a former information technology contractor at the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Department of… pic.twitter.com/aNv1UsQEOE

— FBI (@FBI) November 3, 2026

According to court documents cited by the Justice Department, Lemma held a Top Secret security clearance. Prosecutors said that from 2021 until his arrest in August 2023, he conspired with senior Ethiopian government officials to collect and send them dozens of classified documents, notes, materials and photographs, some classified at the Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information level.

How prosecutors say he did it

The Justice Department said Lemma wrote classified information out by hand and carried those notes out of secure government facilities. Prosecutors said he also used his access as an IT administrator to pull electronic copies of classified material from government repositories and remove them from the secure facilities where he worked.

Much of the information concerned an armed conflict inside Ethiopia, according to the department, and Lemma’s co-conspirators included senior officials in Ethiopia’s political, military and intelligence branches. The BBC reported that the material included satellite imagery and details of military activity, and that the FBI said Ethiopian officials later used intelligence he supplied in military operations.

The BBC described the conflict as Ethiopia’s 2020-22 civil war in the Tigray region.

“Betrayed the United States”

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg did not mince words. “Lemma betrayed the United States to an extraordinary degree,” Eisenberg said in the Justice Department release. “He exploited his IT administrator access to remove classified national defense information, including Top Secret information, from a secure facility and transmitted it to Ethiopian government officials hoping they would use it to target and kill paramilitary fighters in a regional conflict.”

“Clearance holders pledge undivided loyalty to the United States and bear a legal and moral responsibility to protect classified information,” Eisenberg added, according to the release. “Those who betray this trust will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

The FBI’s Washington Field Office investigated the case, according to the FBI’s post on X, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced the plea in its own post. Edit USA reported that the original 2023 criminal complaint did not name the foreign country and accused Lemma of stripping classification markings from intelligence reports before sending information to a foreign official over an encrypted app.

Why it matters

The case is another reminder that the most damaging leaks often come from trusted insiders with system access, not outside hackers. Lemma’s jobs gave him reach into three separate agencies, including the office that runs America’s spy satellites, according to the Justice Department. Washington’s WJLA reported that Lemma lived in Silver Spring, Maryland.

The plea comes as federal agencies continue to tighten insider-threat programs for contractors who hold clearances. Whether the court accepts the agreed sentencing range will be decided at the April hearing, according to the Justice Department.

Sources

• U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs
• BBC News
• WJLA 7News
• Edit USA
• FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. on X

Reporting by Daily Beltway.