Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, a former CIA officer, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for conspiring to provide classified U.S. defense information to Chinese intelligence officials. The 71-year-old, who worked for the CIA from 1982 to 1989, was arrested in 2020 and pleaded guilty in May to espionage charges. His sentencing follows a plea deal that also requires Ma to cooperate with U.S. authorities for the rest of his life, including regular polygraph tests.
Ma’s espionage activities began in the early 2000s, when he and a relative, also a former CIA officer, shared classified information with Chinese intelligence officers during a series of meetings in Hong Kong. In exchange, they received $50,000 in cash. Ma later worked as a contract linguist for the FBI, where he secretly photographed sensitive documents to pass to his Chinese handlers.
Despite being caught in an FBI sting operation, Ma has cooperated with investigators and expressed remorse for his actions, writing a letter to the judge asking for forgiveness. He was sentenced to 10 years, followed by five years of supervised release. Without the plea deal, Ma could have expected life in prison.
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