Former U.S. Government Contractor Pleads Guilty to Spying for Ethiopia, Pirro Announces
A former U.S. government contractor has pleaded guilty to passing classified national defense information to officials of the Ethiopian government, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced.
Abraham Teklu Lemma admitted to conspiring to transmit national defense information to Ethiopian officials. Federal prosecutors announced the plea on Tuesday, November 3, after a long investigation into years of unauthorized disclosures.
Pirro made the announcement alongside senior Justice Department and FBI officials. She said Lemma exploited the public's trust and endangered national security by handing highly classified intelligence to a foreign government.
Lemma worked as an information technology contractor supporting the State Department, the Justice Department and the National Reconnaissance Office. He held a Top Secret security clearance while carrying out the scheme.
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Years of Leaks
According to court documents, the conspiracy ran from 2021 until his arrest in August 2023. Prosecutors said he shared dozens of classified documents, photographs, notes and other materials with senior Ethiopian officials.
Some of the information was marked Top Secret and carried Sensitive Compartmented Information restrictions, a level reserved for intelligence whose release could cause exceptionally grave damage to U.S. national security.
Most of the disclosures concerned military operations and an armed conflict between Ethiopian government forces and opposing fighters. Investigators said his contacts included people inside Ethiopia's political, military and intelligence establishment.
Prosecutors said Lemma used his administrator privileges to pull information from classified government systems. He also copied sensitive details into handwritten notes and carried them out of secure facilities, taking steps to hide what he was doing.
Messages Urging Military Action
Court records describe messages in which Lemma encouraged his Ethiopian contacts to take military action against opposing paramilitary forces. In one December 2021 message, he urged them to defeat their opponents. Later that same day, he asked for drones.
Authorities said the intelligence he provided was later used in Ethiopian military operations, though they have not publicly said whether specific disclosures led directly to particular battlefield deaths.
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Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg said Lemma used his privileged technical access to remove classified information and hoped Ethiopian officials would use it against fighters in the regional conflict. FBI officials warned that this kind of foreign cooperation can put American personnel, operations and sources at risk.
Up to 22 Years in Prison
Lemma agreed to plead guilty under a federal law covering the transmission of national defense information to foreign governments. His plea agreement calls for a prison term of 120 to 262 months if the court accepts it.
Senior U.S. District Judge John Bates scheduled sentencing for April 14, 2027.
The case was handled by the FBI Washington Field Office, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tejpal Chawla and Adam Barry, and trial attorney Kathryn DeMarco of the National Security Division.
Although the case began before Trump's current term, the guilty plea came under his administration, and officials have used it to stress accountability for anyone who betrays classified information.
It also comes amid separate cases involving other contractors. In October, authorities arrested contractor Ian Brinksman over allegations of transmitting national defense information, and a separate indictment accused former contractor James Ashbacher of disclosing protected information and stealing military equipment. Those cases involve different defendants and are unrelated to Lemma's admitted conduct.