Ex-Navy Nuclear Engineer Pleads Guilty in Submarine Espionage Case

The U.S.S. Virginia returns to the Electric Boat Shipyard in Groton, Conn., after its first sea trials on July 30, 2004. AP Photo/Jack Sauer, File

A former U.S. Navy engineer pleaded guilty on Monday to attempting to sell secrets about nuclear-powered submarines to a foreign country.

As part of a deal with prosecutors, Jonathan Toebbe, 43, admitted to a federal court in Martinsburg, West Virginia, to conspiring with his wife to pass on restricted data, a violation of the Atomic Energy Act that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.