Saying that the negotiated punishment was too weak, a federal judge rejected a plea deal reached with a Maryland couple accused of stealing classified documents detailing US submarine data and attempting to sell them to a foreign government, the Washington Post reports.

Jonathan Toebbe, 43, a civilian engineer for the Navy, and his 46-year-old wife, Diana, had struck a deal with federal prosecutors for Jonathan to serve 12½ to 17½ years in prison while Diana would serve just three.

U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh of the Northern District of West Virginia, however threw out the plea agreements because she felt the sentences were too lenient based on the seriousness of the offense.  The Toebbes then withdrew their earlier entered guilty pleas.

“It’s not in the best interest of this community or, in fact, this country to accept these plea agreements,” Groh said from the bench when she rejected the deal. “I don’t find any justifiable reason for accepting either one of these plea agreements. … In the end, I generally honor plea agreements negotiated by the parties, even when they have binding [sentencing] ranges [that she does not entirely agree with].   I find the sentencing options available [in this case] to me to be strikingly deficient.”

The prosecutors agreed to the plea deal because they felt Diana Toebbe was just following her husband’s instructions and did not plan the caper.  Both pleaded guilty to attempting to share “restricted data,” a violation of the Atomic Energy Act, and could face life in prison if found guilty at trial.