FORMER DIA EMPLOYEE PLEADS GUILTY TO ATTEMPTING TO PROVIDE CLASSIFIED INFORMATION TO A FOREIGN GOVERNMENT

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A former Defense Intelligence Agency employee has pleaded guilty to transmitting national defense information after admitting that he removed classified material from his workplace, copied it onto a thumb drive, and deposited it at a location for what he believed would be retrieval by representatives of a foreign government.

Nathan Vilas Laatsch, 29, of Alexandria, Virginia, pleaded guilty to transmission of national defense information.

According to court documents, Laatsch became a civilian employee of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2019 and worked within the agency’s Insider Threat Division.

His position gave him access to sensitive government information, and he held a Top Secret security clearance.

In March 2025, the FBI learned that Laatsch had offered to provide classified information to a friendly foreign government.

Soon afterward, Laatsch began communicating with an individual he believed was associated with that government.

The individual was actually an FBI agent.

In late April 2025, Laatsch began transcribing classified material from his workstation onto a notepad.

Over approximately three days, he repeatedly removed the handwritten information from his workspace.

Laatsch later transferred the classified information to a thumb drive and deposited the device at a public park in Northern Virginia for what he believed would be retrieval by the foreign government.

The FBI recovered the drive.

According to federal authorities, the device contained multiple typed documents containing information classified at levels reaching Secret and Top Secret.

The drive also contained a message from Laatsch explaining that he had included what he described as a representative sample of the classified material available to him in order to demonstrate the range of government products he could access.

After receiving confirmation that the thumb drive had been collected, Laatsch communicated that he was interested in obtaining citizenship in the foreign country.

He also indicated that he was not opposed to other compensation, though he said he did not require financial payment.

The operation continued into May 2025.

An undercover FBI agent told Laatsch that additional classified information could be received.

Between May 15 and May 27, 2025, Laatsch again transcribed classified information while logged into his government workstation.

According to court documents, he concealed the handwritten material in his clothing and removed it from his work area.

On May 29, 2025, Laatsch traveled to another prearranged location in Northern Virginia and transmitted additional classified documents.

FBI agents arrested him after receiving the material.

Attorney General Todd Blanche said government employees entrusted with national security information carry a responsibility to protect it and said Laatsch violated that trust.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said political disagreement did not excuse the disclosure of national defense information to a foreign government.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Theophani K. Stamos for the Eastern District of Virginia said the government would prosecute individuals who unlawfully compromise national security regardless of their stated motivations.

FBI Counterintelligence and Espionage Division Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky said Laatsch betrayed his position by offering classified information to a foreign government while employed inside the DIA’s Insider Threat Division.

Darren B. Cox, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office, said Laatsch had been entrusted to identify spies and other insider threats but ultimately became the type of threat his position was intended to detect.

The FBI Washington Field Office investigated the case with assistance from the FBI’s Global Counterespionage Unit, the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Trial Attorney Mark Murphy of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg for the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case.

Laatsch is scheduled to be sentenced on January 27, 2027.

He faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison.

Any sentence will be determined by a federal judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and applicable statutory factors.

The case is no longer at the allegation stage. Laatsch has pleaded guilty and admitted to transmitting national defense information while believing he was providing it to a foreign government.

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