US government IT contractor admits spying for Ethiopia
WASHINGTON: A former information technology administrator for the US federal government who had Top Secret security clearance pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to commit espionage for the Ethiopian government.
A former US government IT contractor with Top Secret clearance has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit espionage for the Ethiopian government. Abraham Teklu Lemma, an American citizen of Ethiopian descent, was working as an IT subcontractor for the State Department and Department of Justice when he was arrested in August 2023.
He initially denied the charges but eventually agreed to plead guilty in a federal court in Washington. Lemma is set to be sentenced on April 14 and faces a prison term ranging from 120 to 262 months.
According to Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg, Lemma's actions betrayed the United States to an "extraordinary degree." He exploited his access to national defense information to remove classified materials from a secure facility and transmit them to Ethiopian officials with the intention of using the data to target and kill paramilitary fighters in a regional conflict.
Federal prosecutors allege that Lemma conspired to provide senior Ethiopian officials with dozens of highly classified documents, notes, materials, and photographs between 2021 and his 2023 arrest. The conflict in northern Ethiopia, where Lemma's espionage is believed to have been targeted, began in 2020 and escalated again in September 2026 despite a peace agreement signed in November 2022.
Lemma encouraged Ethiopian leaders to take direct action against paramilitary groups, telling one conspirator, "We have to finish these people once and for all, otherwise there will never be peace in Ethiopia."
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