Ex-DIA insider threat specialist pleads guilty to leaking secrets to Germany

August 29, 2026 at 12:15 PM2 min

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Nathan Vilas Laatsch, a former civilian IT specialist in the Defense Intelligence Agency's Insider Threat Division, pleaded guilty to attempting to pass classified information to a foreign government. He was arrested on May 29 in northern Virginia after handing documents to an undercover FBI agent. Sentencing is set for January 27.

Key Facts

Nathan Vilas Laatsch, 29, joined the DIA as a civilian employee in the Insider Threat Division in 2019.
In April 2025, Laatsch left a USB drive containing documents up to Top Secret level at a public park in northern Virginia.
The FBI retrieved the drive and an agent posed as a foreign government contact, communicating with Laatsch for several weeks.
Laatsch was arrested on May 29 after handing more documents to an undercover FBI agent.
Sentencing is scheduled for January 27, and prosecutors do not plan to seek death or life imprisonment.

The Leak

Laatsch hand-copied secret information onto a notepad at his desk in April 2025. He then typed the material, saved it to a USB drive, and left the drive at a public park in northern Virginia. The drive contained multiple typed documents with information up to the Secret or Top Secret level. A message from Laatsch on the drive said he had chosen 'a decent sample size' to demonstrate the range of products he could access.

FBI Sting

An FBI agent posed as someone affiliated with the foreign government and communicated with Laatsch for several weeks. Laatsch told the agent he was interested in citizenship in the foreign country and did not need material compensation. The Washington Post reported that the foreign country was Germany, though court filings did not identify it. Laatsch wrote that he disagreed with the Trump administration and was willing to share classified information. He was arrested on May 29 in northern Virginia after handing more documents to the undercover agent.