Former C.I.A. Officer Sentenced to 10 Years for Espionage

Former C.I.A. Officer Sentenced for Espionage

A former C.I.A. officer and contract translator for the F.B.I. has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for accepting substantial sums of cash and lavish gifts, including a new set of golf clubs, in exchange for supplying classified information to the Chinese government, prosecutors announced on Wednesday.

This serious security breach involved confirming the identities of several individuals whom Chinese intelligence officials were targeting. Additionally, the former officer provided what federal authorities described as a significant volume of sensitive information pertaining to national defense.

The individual in question, Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, aged 71 and residing in Honolulu, was apprehended and charged in August 2020. His arrest followed an admission to an undercover F.B.I. agent, who had been engaged to investigate him through a deceptive ploy. Mr. Ma confessed to utilizing his security clearance to relay protected information to the Shanghai State Security Bureau of the People’s Republic of China, as stated in a release from the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday.

As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, Mr. Ma pleaded guilty in May to the charge of conspiring to gather and deliver national defense information. In a letter addressed to the judge before his sentencing, he expressed remorse, stating, “I take full responsibility for my crime. No matter what made me do it, it was wrong for me to have done it.”

According to court documents, Mr. Ma held a “top secret” security clearance and had access to classified national defense information. His tenure with the Central Intelligence Agency spanned from 1982 to 1989, during which he gained significant insights into sensitive national security matters.