Ex-CIA officer gets 19 years in China spy conspiracy

A former CIA case agent has been sentenced to 19 years in prison for an espionage conspiracy with China. Fifty-five-year-old Jerry Chun Shing Lee was sentenced Friday in federal court in Alexandria after his guilty plea earlier this year.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit espionage, but prosecutors and defence lawyers disagreed about the extent of the crime. Prosecutors say Chinese intelligence officers gave Lee more than USD 8,40,000 and that Lee likely gave them all the information he had from a 13-year career as a CIA case officer. They sought a prison term of more than 20 years.

Defence lawyers say the government never proved that the money came from China or that Lee ever carried out any plans to deliver government secrets. They asked for a 10-year sentence. 

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