Colorado Springs man arrested for attempting to transmit classified material to foreign nation

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A Colorado Springs man was in court Thursday, September 29 facing charges related to violating the Espionage Act. 30-year-old Jareh Dalke faces three espionage-related charges, for allegedly attempting to send classified information to a foreign government.

A criminal complaint filed in Federal Court says Dalke transmitted excerpts of three classified documents to an undercover FBI agent that he believed was a foreign government. One of those excerpts had a "Secret Level" clearance, and two were labeled "Top Secret," according to the complaint.

The Espionage Act makes it a crime to transmit or attempt to transmit sensitive information to a representative of a foreign nation with intent or reason to believe that information could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation.

Dalke was an employee with the National Security Agency (NSA) where he served as an Information Systems Security Designer from June 6, 2022, to July 1, 2022.

Dalke had to leave the NSA in July of 2022. Documents state that the NSA was not willing to accommodate the 9 months Dalke needed off to deal with an illness in the family. However, Dalke did state his intentions to return to the NSA and even interviewed with them in August of 2022.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says Dalke used an encrypted email account to transmit excerpts of three classified documents he had obtained during his employment to an individual Dalke believed to be working for a foreign government.

Federal documents show that Dalke was using a Russian server to communicate and that he had an elementary proficiency in Russian.

Dalke told the undercover agent that he believed the information in his possession would be of value to the foreign government because certain information specifically related to the foreign government and other information related to highly classified U.S. systems that the foreign government would be interested in.

Dalke agreed to sell these documents, telling the agent that he was in financial need. At the time, documents show that Dalke claimed to be $237,000 in debt.

“There is an opportunity to help balance scales of the world while also tending to my own needs," Dalke told the agent.

Dalke also stated that he "will have to find alternative means to remove my debt in the near future so that it does not threaten my employment . . . .," according to federal documentation.

Dalke and the agent agreed to meet in Denver at Union Station on September 28, 2022, to complete the transfer of documentation.

Dalke was arrested sometime following this meetup.

The FBI was also at his Colorado Springs residence, at 5965 Corinth Dr., Wednesday afternoon.

El Paso County had property records for that address blocked. Through an open records request, 13 investigates obtained the document that blocked those records and listed Dalke as the homeowner.

Colorado law allows peace officers to request their property records be removed from the Assessors Office online records.

Dalke previously served in the US Armed Forces, as well as with the Colorado Rangers, a volunteer law enforcement reserve group.

The Espionage Act carries a potential sentence of death or any term of years up to life in prison.