 Jeffrey Paul Delisle arrives at the provincial court to face espionage charges in Halifax, Nova Scotia, January 17, 2012. Delislie, a member of the Canadian military is accused of passing information to a foreign entity. (REUTERS/Paul Darrow)
|
A top U.S. official has confirmed that secrets Canadian Navy spy Sub-Lt. Jeffrey Delisle sold to Russia included American intelligence.
Delisle became the first Canadian to be convicted of charges under the Security of Information Act, enacted after 9/11, when he confessed to stealing information on a thumb drive and passing it to his Russian contacts for about $3,000 a month.
Delisle pleaded guilty on Oct. 10 to one count of breach of trust and two counts of sharing information with a foreign entity.
He admitted that he sold sensitive information he had access to through his security clearance with National Defence and the Canadian Forces, which included information from the U.S., Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Earlier this year, an Australian newspaper reported that country's intelligence was also likely compromised.
Delisle, 41, faces possible life in prison when he is sentenced in January, but he retains his rank for now.
U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Jacobson said Sunday in an interview on CTV that Delisle passed "a lot of highly classified material" from the U.S. and Canadian governments.
Jacobson also told CTV he still has faith in Canada's intelligence system, and said, "We've had these problems in the past, and we want to make sure and the Canadians want to make sure that nothing like this is going to happen again."
