John Allen Kurrle Jr., 62, a defence contractor holding a top secret security clearance, pleaded guilty to aiding North Korea's remote-worker scheme by letting co-conspirators use his identity and clearance to apply for sensitive jobs, the Justice Department said. Court records show the conspiracy spanned at least 88 applications at US-based companies and yielded nine job offers between June and October 2025, with salary ranges of US$120,000–190,000. His identity was used to gain a software-engineer role at a California company working on a generative-AI project for a US military component; the company shipped a laptop to Kurrle's Virginia residence, but flagged the co-conspirator during an eligibility video call when the person on camera did not match Kurrle's age or characteristics, terminating the employment before any work began. The longest placement lasted about three weeks. Kurrle is ordered to pay restitution for the US$2,200 and US$4,800 the scheme generated, and admitted using a third person's identity without consent.

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