The U.S. Department of Justice revealed details about the case of a former government contractor pleading guilty to espionage for Ethiopia, shedding light on the nature of the information he shared and its significance.
This was stated in a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, which was followed by the news video agency, stating: "U.S. Attorney Janine Ferris Piro announced that Abraham Tiklo Lima, 54, a former information technology contractor with the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the National Reconnaissance Office, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit espionage on behalf of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia."
The statement noted that according to "court documents, Lima, a resident of Silver Spring, Maryland, held a U.S. security clearance of the highest classification level, and from 2021 until his arrest in August 2023, Lima conspired with senior officials in the Ethiopian government to collect and transmit dozens of classified documents, notes, materials, and photographs - which were classified as 'Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information' - to officials in the Ethiopian government. It is worth noting that materials classified as Top Secret are those that could cause exceptionally grave damage to national security if disclosed without authorization."
The statement continued: "A significant portion of the highly classified information Lima shared with the Ethiopian government related to an ongoing armed conflict in Ethiopia. The list of individuals associated with Lima included senior officials in Ethiopia's political, military, and intelligence agencies. During his espionage activities, Lima took numerous steps to conceal his actions, and he secretly smuggled documents and sensitive information out of U.S. government possession."
The U.S. Department of Justice further stated in its announcement: "More specifically, Lima handwritten confidential information and then removed those notes from secure U.S. government facilities. Additionally, as an information technology official, Lima extracted electronic copies of classified information from U.S. government classified data repositories and subsequently removed that very same information from the secure U.S. government facilities where he worked."
It added: "On some occasions, Lima encouraged his political partners within the Ethiopian government to take direct action against militia groups that were fighting the Ethiopian government. For example, on December 18, 2021, Lima told one of his co-conspirators: ‘We need to eliminate these people entirely; otherwise, peace will never be achieved in Ethiopia,’ and later that same day, Lima shared additional information with his co-conspirator, writing: ‘Please send drones.’"
The department continued in its statement: "According to the plea agreement, Lima agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to transmit national defense information to a foreign government, which violates Section 794 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code. Should the court accept this agreement, Lima has agreed to be sentenced to a term of imprisonment between 120 and 262 months."