Abraham Teklu Lemma biography: 13 things about Silver Spring, Maryland man from Ethiopia

Abraham Teklu Lemma is an Ethiopian-American man from Maryland, United States. He worked for the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., USA.

Originally from Ethiopia, Lemma is a naturalized U.S. citizen. He is a resident of Silver Spring, Montgomery County, Maryland.

As part of Lemma’s employment at both agencies, he was required to regularly take an annual training that includes refresher training on the proper marking and handling of classified information. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. From 2013 to 2016, he attended the University of Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland where he studied information systems and technology.
2. In July 2019, he became a help desk technician assigned to the Bureau of Intelligence and Research with the U.S. Department of State.
3. In December 2020, he came an information technology administrator at a U.S. Department of State facility in Washington, D.C.
4. In July 2021, he obtained sensitive compartmented information (SCI) access.
5. On February 9, 2022, he traveled to Ethiopia.
6. In May 2022, he joined the U.S. Department of Justice as a contract management analyst.
7. In July 2022, he returned to work at the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Justice.
8. In August 2022, he transmitted satellite imagery from Ethiopia.
9. Between December 19, 2022, and August 7, 2023, he copied and pasted information from at least 85 Intelligence Reports regarding many topics, the majority of which relate to Ethiopia.
10. On April 12, 2023, he traveled to Ethiopia.
11. In June 2023, he returned to the U.S. Department of State. On at least three occasions between July 10, 2023 and August 18, 2023, he copied classified information from numerous Intelligence Reports onto compact discs or digital video discs from the U.S. Department of State classified system.
12. On at least four occasions in August 2023, he was observed using the U.S. Department of State classified computer system and accessing non-U.S. Department of State classified portals outside of his authorized access.
13. He was 50 years old when he was arrested on August 24, 2023. He was charged with delivering national defense information to aid a foreign government, conspiracy to deliver national defense information to aid a foreign government, and the willful retention of national defense information.