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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A 29-year-old Alexandria man who worked in the Defense Intelligence Agency's Insider Threat Division pleaded guilty Wednesday to transmitting national defense information, 15 months after he handed classified documents to an undercover FBI agent he believed represented a friendly foreign government.
Nathan Vilas Laatsch faces up to life in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 27, 2027, in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.
Laatsch joined the DIA as a civilian employee in 2019 and held a Top Secret security clearance. His work in the Insider Threat Division involved monitoring agency systems for the kind of conduct he later admitted to.
According to court documents, the FBI learned in March 2025 that Laatsch had offered classified information to a friendly foreign government. In the email that prompted the investigation, the sender wrote that he did not agree with the values of the current administration and was willing to share material he could access. Laatsch then began exchanging messages with someone he believed was affiliated with that government but who was an FBI agent.
In late April 2025, over roughly three days, he transcribed classified information onto a notepad at his desk and carried it out of his workspace, prosecutors said. On May 1, under FBI surveillance, he left a thumb drive at a Northern Virginia park. Agents recovered it. The drive held typed documents marked up to the Secret and Top Secret levels, along with a message in which Laatsch said he had included a sample large enough to show the range of products he could reach.
On May 7, after confirmation the drive had been received, Laatsch indicated he wanted something in return for continuing. The next day he specified citizenship, writing that he did not expect things in the United States to improve in the long term. He said he was not opposed to other compensation but did not need it.
Between May 15 and May 27, he again copied pages of notes while logged into his classified workstation and removed them hidden in his clothing, according to the Justice Department. He was arrested May 29 at a prearranged location in Northern Virginia after turning over more documents.
The government has not identified the country, describing it only as friendly or allied. No foreign government received the material; the FBI controlled both drops.
Laatsch had pleaded not guilty and waived his right to a speedy trial in June 2025.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Theophani K. Stamos said political disagreement does not justify compromising national security. "No one is entitled to break the law or violate the public trust, no matter their motivations," she said in a statement.
Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director of the FBI's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, said Laatsch had offered to sell American secrets in exchange for foreign citizenship.
An attorney for Laatsch could not immediately be reached for comment.
