A former US government contractor has pleaded guilty to giving classified intelligence to Ethiopian officials to help them target Tigrayan fighters.
Abraham Teklu Lemma, 54, worked for the State Department, the Justice Department and the National Reconnaissance Office. He faces up to 22 years in prison under his plea deal and is due to be sentenced on April 14, 2027, the BBC reported.
Prosecutors cited messages in which Lemma wrote, “We have to finish these people once and for all,” and “Please send Dro[nes].” He was arrested in August 2023.
Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, said “he betrayed his oath, his colleagues, and his country.”
A 2022 peace agreement ended the Tigray war, but fighting resumed in September. “Lemma betrayed the United States to an extraordinary degree,” said John Eisenberg, the assistant attorney general for national security.
Sources: BBC News
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