The Justice Department on Tuesday said a former U.S. government contractor pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit espionage on behalf of Ethiopia. The release, issued Nov. 3, 2026, identified the defendant as Abraham Teklu Lemma, 53, of Maryland.

The department said Lemma pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transmit national defense information to a foreign government and agreed to be incarcerated for between 120 and 262 months if the court accepts the plea. Sentencing is set for April 14, 2027, the department said.

According to court documents, Lemma held a Top Secret U.S. security clearance and, from 2021 until his arrest in August 2023, conspired with senior Ethiopian government officials to collect and transmit dozens of highly classified documents, notes, materials, and photographs, up to the Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information level. The department said material identified as Top Secret means unauthorized disclosure “is reasonably to cause ’exceptionally grave damage to the national security’ of the United States.”

Much of the highly classified information Lemma shared with the Ethiopian government concerned an armed conflict in Ethiopia, according to court documents. The documents say his conspirators included senior officials within political, military, and intelligence branches of the Ethiopian government.

According to court documents, Lemma took handwritten notes with classified information and carried them out of secure U.S. government facilities. The documents also state that, as an IT administrator, he removed electronic versions of classified information from classified government repositories and took that information out of secure facilities where he worked.

The department said that on some occasions Lemma encouraged his Ethiopian government conspirators to take direct action against paramilitary groups fighting the government of Ethiopia. On Dec. 18, 2021, he wrote, “Please send Dro[nes],” according to the release.

“Lemma betrayed the United States to an extraordinary degree,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia said the guilty plea shows those who compromise sensitive secrets will be “investigated, prosecuted, and held accountable.”

The FBI Washington Field Office conducted the investigation, the department said.