A former IT contractor for the US government has pleaded guilty to conspiring to spy for Ethiopia. He admitted passing highly classified national defence information to Ethiopian officials, who prosecutors say used it against paramilitary fighters in an armed conflict.
Abraham Teklu Lemma, 53, of Maryland, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to conspiracy to transmit national defence information to a foreign government, the US Department of Justice said. Under the plea agreement, which the court must still accept, he faces between 120 and 262 months in prison. Sentencing is set for 14 April 2027.
Lemma previously worked as an IT contractor at the National Reconnaissance Office, the US Department of State, and the US Department of Justice. Court documents show that Lemma, who held a Top Secret security clearance, conspired with senior Ethiopian officials across political, military, and intelligence branches from 2021 until his arrest in August 2023.
Classified info used to take military action against anti-government groups in Ethiopia
During that time, he collected and transmitted dozens of highly classified documents, notes, materials, and photographs—classified up to the Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) level. Much of the intelligence concerned an armed conflict in Ethiopia.
The justice department noted that unauthorised disclosure of Top Secret material is reasonably expected to cause “exceptionally grave damage” to US national security.
To conceal his activities, Lemma hand-wrote notes containing classified information and carried them out of secure US government facilities. Utilising his access as an IT administrator, he also removed electronic versions of classified files from government repositories.
Prosecutors said Lemma actively encouraged his Ethiopian conspirators to take direct military action against paramilitary groups fighting the government. On Dec. 18, 2021, Lemma told one official: “We have to finish these people once and for all, otherwise there will never be peace in Ethiopia.” Later that day, he shared additional intelligence and wrote, “Please send Dro[nes].”
“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.”
Eisenberg added: “Clearance holders pledge undivided loyalty to the United States and bear a legal and moral responsibility to protect classified information. Those who betray this trust will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
US Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia said Lemma exploited his position of trust for more than two years.
“In doing so, he betrayed his oath, his colleagues, and his country, while jeopardizing our national security,” Pirro said.“His guilty plea sends a clear message: those who compromise America’s most sensitive secrets will be investigated,prosecuted, and held accountable.”
Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division said Lemma provided the classified information by his own admission for use in military operations.
“Despite swearing an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States, Abraham Lemma betrayed our country by committing espionage on behalf of the Ethiopian government,” Rozhavsky said. “This guilty plea should serve notice that the FBI and our partners will work tirelessly to stop foreign intelligence services, and anyone who decides to work with them, against the interests of the United States.”
The investigation was conducted by the FBI Washington Field Office. Assistant Director in Charge Darren B. Cox stated that any attempt to compromise national security would not be tolerated.
“Lemma abused his position of trust and access to some of our nation’s most highly classified information, conspiring with foreign government officials to unlawfully disclose materials protected to the highest level,” Cox said. “In doing so,he not only endangered our national security but also betrayed the trust placed in him by the American people.”
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorneys Tejpal Chawla and Adam P. Barry for the District of Columbia,and Trial Attorney Kathryn DeMarco of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division.
