Spy who claims he met Lukashenka imprisoned in US
Norfolk Federal Court (Virginia) sentenced former US Navy cryptology technician Robert Hoffman to 30 years for trying to spy for Russia.
He was imprisoned for 30 years for attempted espionage for Russia, Associated Press reports.
Hoffman, 40, was returned guilty of passing secret information to people he believed were Russian spies. Hoffman was detained on December 6, 2012 when he passed the documents to an FBI undercover agent. The ex-US Navy was facing the death penalty but was sentenced to 30 years of imprisonment instead, Forbes notes.
Hoffman served in the U.S. Navy (mostly on submarines) for 20 years before retiring at the rank of Petty Officer First Class in 2011. The FBI paid attention to him in connection with his trip to Belarus not long before the retirement. Hoffman went to meet the woman he got to know during his deployment in Bahrain. Having returned to the US, the cryptologist claimed that he had met the Belarusian President.
A female FBI agent stared online correspondence with him. Another agent was sent to Hoffman later. She helped him connect with another agent who introduced himself as Vladimir. Hoffman agreed to cooperate with him for money. He left encrypted flash drives containing secret information in the places indicated by Vladimir.
Photo: tech.onliner.by
