Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, a 71-year-old former CIA officer, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for conspiring to provide classified information to Chinese intelligence officials, CNN reports.
The ruling follows Ma’s guilty plea in May, where he admitted to arranging meetings with Chinese security officers in Hong Kong and providing classified material in exchange for $50,000.
According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Ma’s actions were uncovered after he applied for a position as a linguist at the FBI’s Honolulu field office. The FBI, aware of Ma’s ties to Chinese intelligence, hired him as part of an undercover operation, allowing them to monitor his activities and investigate his contacts with Chinese officials.
During his employment with the FBI, Ma allegedly took a digital camera into the office to photograph sensitive documents, which he then provided to his Chinese handlers.
Ma’s attorney, Salina Kanai, acknowledged the seriousness of the offense, stating that the judge “had to weigh a host of mitigating and aggravating factors, many unique to Mr. Ma’s case.” Kanai added that both the prosecution and defense agreed that 10 years imprisonment was a just sentence for Ma’s actions.
As part of the plea agreement, Ma is required to cooperate with the US government for the rest of his life, including submitting to debriefings by government agencies. The DOJ noted that Ma has already been cooperative during multiple interviews.
