Former US Intelligence Employee Pleads Guilty to Selling Classified Information for Foreign Citizenship

By Mintesinot Nigussie  |  August 28, 2026

A former Defense Intelligence Agency employee has pleaded guilty to transmitting classified US national defence information to a foreign government in exchange for the prospect of obtaining citizenship, the US Justice Department said.

Nathan Vilas Laatsch, 29, a former IT specialist at the DIA in Alexandria, Virginia, admitted to providing classified material while holding a Top Secret security clearance and working in the agency’s Insider Threat Division.

Laatsch began communicating with an individual he believed represented a friendly foreign government after the FBI learned in March 2025 that he had offered to provide classified information. The person was in fact an undercover FBI agent, according to court documents.

In April 2025, Laatsch copied classified information from his workstation over several days and transferred it to a thumb drive, which he left at a public park in northern Virginia for what he believed was the foreign government to collect.

The FBI recovered the drive, which contained multiple documents classified at the Secret or Top Secret level. It also contained a message in which Laatsch described the material as a sample intended to demonstrate the range of classified information to which he had access.

After being told the drive had been received, Laatsch expressed interest in obtaining citizenship in the foreign country. He said he was not opposed to financial compensation but did not need material payment, according to court documents.

Laatsch subsequently provided additional classified material between May 15 and May 27, repeatedly transcribing information while logged into his classified workstation and concealing the material in his clothing as he removed it.

On May 29, he delivered additional classified documents at a prearranged location in northern Virginia and was arrested after the FBI received the material.

The case highlights the security risks posed by insiders with authorised access to sensitive government systems. Laatsch joined the DIA as a civilian employee in 2019 and held a Top Secret clearance.

"Unlawfully disclosing national defence information to a foreign government is a serious crime, not a form of principled dissent," said John A. Eisenberg, assistant attorney general for national security.

Attorney General Todd Blanche said Laatsch had violated a position of trust by disclosing national security information.

Laatsch faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. A federal district court will determine his sentence after considering the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. He is scheduled to be sentenced on January 27, 2027.

The FBI Washington Field Office is investigating the case with assistance from the agency’s Global Counterespionage Unit, the US Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Source: FSX Business News