WASHINGTON (7News) —A former U.S. government information technology contractor pleaded guilty to conspiring to transmit classified information to the Ethiopian government, federal prosecutors said.
Abraham Teklu Lemma, 54, of Silver Spring, Maryland, held a top-secret security clearance and worked as a contractor for the State Department, Justice Department and National Reconnaissance Office, according to court documents.
Prosecutors said Lemma conspired with senior Ethiopian government officials from 2021 until his arrest in August 2023. He collected and shared dozens of classified documents, notes, materials and photographs, including information classified at the top-secret and sensitive compartmented information levels.
Much of the information concerned an armed conflict
Much of the information concerned an armed conflict in Ethiopia, prosecutors said. Court documents say Lemma copied classified information from secure government systems and removed it from secure facilities. He also handwrote classified information in notes and carried them out of government facilities.
On Dec. 18, 2021, Lemma encouraged a conspirator to act against paramilitary groups fighting Ethiopia’s government, according to prosecutors. He wrote, “We have to finish these people once and for all, otherwise there will never be peace in Ethiopia.” Later that day, he shared more information and wrote, “Please send Dro[nes].”
Lemma pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transmit national defense information to a foreign government. Under his plea agreement, he agreed to a sentence of between 120 and 262 months in prison, if the court accepts the agreement.
Lemma’s sentencing was scheduled for April 14, 2027.
The FBI’s Washington Field Office investigated the case
The FBI’s Washington Field Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tejpal Chawla and Adam P. Barry and Justice Department trial attorney Kathryn DeMarco are prosecuting it.
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