There was a surprise guilty plea entered in Nova Scotia espionage case in a Halifax provincial court today.
 
Sub-Lt. Jeffrey Delisle, 41, pleaded guilty to two counts of passing information to a foreign entity and one count of break of trust.

Defence lawyer Mike Taylor told a provincial court judge in Halifax that Delisle was giving up his right to a trial.

“”This was simply a matter of deciding, there was no good reason to put on a show for the public, in my estimation, when the outcome was clear,” Taylor told reporters following the proceeding. “Mr. Delisle was realistic about that. He didn’t see that there was any sense in dragging it out, wasting the resources of everyone involved to simply go through the motions.”

It’s still unknown what information was compromised, or which foreign entity was involved.

“You’ll know a lot of that, just about everything,” said Taylor. “I can say this, the information that was leaked in no way, at any point, jeopardized the lives or safety of any of the men and women operating with the Canadian Armed Forces.”
 
Two days have been set aside for a sentencing hearing, Jan. 10 and 11, 2013, during which both sides intend to call witnesses.

Taylor would not say what sentencing recommendation he is looking for. He did say the Crown has indicated it will be seeking a significant number of years in prison, albeit less than a life sentence.