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| U.S. defense analyst guilty of delivering Taiwan data |
| 2008-04-01 |
| A U.S. Defense Department analyst pleaded guilty to delivering classified information about U.S. and Taiwanese military relations to a New Orleans furniture salesman who turned out to be working with the Chinese government. Gregg Bergersen, 51, of Alexandria, a weapons analyst at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency who held top secret security clearances, was arrested in February. Prosecutors alleged he divulged military secrets to a Louisiana businessman, Tai Kuo, who turned the information over to a Chinese foreign agent. In a plea hearing Monday, Bergersen pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiring to communicate national defense information to a person not entitled to receive it. He faces up to 10 years in prison when sentenced in June. According to a statement of facts, Bergersen thought Kuo was aligned with the Taiwan Ministry of Defense. Bergersen was unaware, though, that Kuo maintained regular contact with a foreign official from Beijing, to whom Kuo was relaying the secret information. Bergersen admitted that he received about $7,000 in cash and gifts from Kuo in the last year, including $3,000 in cash for a poker game on a Las Vegas trip he took with Kuo in April 2007. Bergersen's lawyer, Mark Cummings, said during Monday's hearing that there was no explicit exchange of money for information. "In hindsight, he understands that the money was given to him in anticipation that he would provide documents," Cummings said. An FBI affidavit filed in February spelled out detailed evidence against Kuo, including taped conversations in which Bergersen acknowledged to Kuo that he could go to jail for his actions. Kuo and a third defendant, a Chinese national, Yu Xin Kang, 33, face more serious charges that carry possible life sentences. Both are in jail awaiting trial. Bergersen is under house arrest while he awaits sentencing. The plea deal bars him and his lawyer from commenting on the case publicly. The plea bargain also requires Bergersen to testify against Kuo and Kang if needed. Kuo, 58, is a naturalized U.S. citizen and a native of Taiwan. He is a son-in-law of Xue Yue, a Chinese nationalist general who was a close associate of Chiang Kai-shek. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #2 ION IRNA > India Lefts-Communist + US Communist Parties > AMERICAN COMMUNIST LEADER: US STRATEGY TO "PIT ONE COUNTRY AGAINST ANOTHER" IN ASIA [espec agz China]. For ME, more evidencia/indicia that OSAMA BIN LADEN = RADICAL ISLAM INTENDS TO REDIRECT MILITANT JIHAD AGZ RUSS + CENTRAL ASIA. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-04-01 19:17 |
| #1 Remember, China is our enemy and will always be such. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2008-04-01 11:12 |