Former U.S. Contractor Pleads Guilty to Spying for Ethiopia, Passing Top-Secret Intelligence

Abraham Teklu Lemma, 53, of Maryland, a former information-technology contractor at the National Reconnaissance Office, the Department of State, and the Department of Justice, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to commit espionage on behalf of the government of Ethiopia.

Lemma held a Top Secret security clearance. From 2021 until his arrest in August 2023 he conspired with senior Ethiopian officials to collect and transmit dozens of highly classified documents, notes, materials, and photographs—some classified up to the Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information level—according to court documents. Prosecutors said he exploited his administrator access to remove the material from secure facilities.

“Lemma betrayed the United States to an extraordinary degree,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said. “He exploited his IT administrator access to remove classified national defense information, including Top Secret information, from a secure facility and transmitted it to Ethiopian government officials hoping they would use it to target and kill paramilitary fighters in a regional conflict.”

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia stated that Lemma “betrayed his oath, his colleagues, and his country, while jeopardizing our national security.” Under the plea agreement, Lemma faces between 120 and 262 months of incarceration. Sentencing is scheduled for April 14, 2027. The investigation was conducted by the FBI Washington Field Office.