Nathan Vilas Laatsch, 29, of Alexandria, Virginia, a former Defense Intelligence Agency IT specialist, pleaded guilty to attempting to transmit classified national defense information to a foreign government. Laatsch, who held a Top Secret clearance, transcribed classified data over three days in 2025 and left it on a thumb drive in a public park. The FBI retrieved the drive containing Secret and Top Secret documents. Laatsch also communicated interest in foreign citizenship and stated he did not seek financial compensation. He faces a potential life sentence. The FBI and Justice Department emphasized accountability for unlawful disclosure of sensitive information. Laatsch is scheduled for sentencing on January 27, 2027.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Materials reproduced from https://www.justice.gov/.
No endorsement by the DOJ is implied.
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