‘DEFICIENT’

Judge Tosses Plea Deals for Couple Accused of Spying in Nuclear Secrets Case

Jonathan and Diana Toebbe were ensnared after a scheme that allegedly involved wrapping sensitive data in a peanut butter sandwich, a gum wrapper, and a Band-Aid.

A naval engineer and his wife had their plea bargains thrown out on Tuesday by a federal judge, who said that the prison terms proposed were not harsh enough. Jonathan and Diana Toebbe were arrested in October, ensnared in an FBI sting and accused of attempting to sell nuclear submarine secrets to an unnamed foreign government and smuggling sensitive data on SD cards via a peanut-butter sandwich, a gum wrapper, and a bandage. The Maryland pair admitted to violating the Atomic Energy Act in agreements with federal prosecutors, with Jonathan confessing that he’d attempted to exchange the data for cryptocurrency. Jonathan Toebbe’s deal would have put him behind bars for 12 years; Diana Toebbe’s was set at three years. On Tuesday, the couple withdrew their guilty pleas after U.S. District Judge Gina Groh ruled that the available sentencing options were “strikingly deficient.” Both prosecutors and defense attorneys in court on Tuesday seemed “taken aback” by the judge’s ruling, The Washington Post reported.