MOSCOW, December 7 - RAPSI, Ingrid Burke. Robert Hoffman, a retired sailor who held high-level security clearances during a US Naval career that spanned two decades, has been charged with attempting to spy for the Russian Federation according to a statement issued by the FBI Thursday.

If convicted, Hoffman may face life in prison.

It is alleged that on October 21 of this year, Hoffman attempted to deliver classified documents containing sensitive national security information to the Russian Federation, and that he did so "with the intent to cause injury to the United States and to give an advantage to the Russian Federation."

To his likely dismay, what he thought was a delivery to the Russian Federation turned out to be the smoking gun in an undercover operation being carried out by the FBI.

Before Hoffman ended his naval tenure in November 2011, he held security clearances that provided him with access to classified and national defense information. He signed many non-disclosure agreements throughout the course of his career.

The relevant section of the US Code stipulates in part that anyone who, "with intent or reason to believe that it is to be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation," delivers information relating to national defense to any foreign government "shall be punished by death or by imprisonment for any term of years or for life."

The death penalty, however, is only an option in certain circumstances.

One such circumstance would be the finding by a court that as a result of the offense, a foreign power was able to identify a US agent, and that the agent's life was lost as a consequence.

Another variant would be the delivery of information relating to "nuclear weaponry, military spacecraft or satellites, early warning systems, or other means of defense or retaliation against large-scale attack; war plans; communications intelligence or cryptographic information; or any other major weapons system or major element of defense strategy."

The fact that Hoffman has been charged with attempted espionage rather than the full monty indicates that neither of the death-penalty circumstances have been satisfied, as both require "identification by a foreign power" of the illicit information, and thus require completion of the offense.

The FBI statement specifically stipulated that Hoffman faces, at most, life imprisonment.

According to the FBI, the indictment does not allege any violations of US law on the part of the Russian Federation.

The FBI described Hoffman as a 39-year-old man from Buffalo, New York currently residing in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

He was arrested Thursday morning without incident and was scheduled to appear in front of a US magistrate in Norfolk later that afternoon.