[Washington Examiner] A former U.S. intelligence officer has pleaded guilty to spying on behalf of China and agreed to a 15-year prison sentence, federal officials announced Friday.
Chinese agents recruited Ron Rockwell Hansen in early 2014 and paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hanson then spent two years trying to recruit a co-conspirator to provide details about military readiness in a particular region, but that case officer reported the issue and cooperated in a sting to end the espionage.
"This case drives home the troubling reality of insider threats and that current and former clearance holders will be targeted by our adversaries," Eric Barnhart, the FBI special agent in charge of the case, said when Hansen was arrested last year. "The FBI will aggressively investigate individuals who put our national security at risk." |