Ex-DIA IT Specialist In Insider-Threat Unit Pleads Guilty To Spying Bid
Nathan Vilas Laatsch contacted an FBI agent posing as the foreign government's representative, then spent three days copying classified files by hand.
- Laatsch, 29, of Alexandria, held Top Secret clearance in DIA's Insider Threat Division since 2019.
- In March 2025 he offered secrets to a foreign government, then messaged an undercover FBI agent.
- He hand-copied classified files for three days in April 2025 and faces up to life in prison.
Why it matters: The Insider Threat Division exists to catch men exactly like him; it employed one instead.
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs press release ↗ · Aug 28, 20268/28/26