Former CIA Officer Pleads Guilty to Providing National Defense Information to China

Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, a 71-year-old former CIA officer, has pleaded guilty to charges of providing classified U.S. national defense information to the People's Republic of China (PRC), according to the Justice Department. The plea agreement revealed that Ma, who served as a CIA officer in the 1980s, collaborated with an unnamed co-conspirator in 2001 to provide Chinese intelligence with a substantial amount of classified information in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars.

Ma, a resident of Honolulu, had continued his intelligence work by joining the FBI as a linguist in the Honolulu Field Office from 2004 to 2012. However, the FBI was already aware of Ma's ties to PRC intelligence and employed him as part of an undercover investigation to monitor his activities and contacts with Chinese operatives.

During his monitored employment with the FBI, Ma allegedly brought a digital camera inside the FBI office to photograph sensitive documents, which he would later deliver to his contacts in China. The Justice Department stated that Ma confessed to knowing that the shared information was intended to either harm the United States or benefit the PRC.

As part of his plea agreement, Ma is required to cooperate with U.S. government agencies and undergo debriefings. If the court accepts his guilty plea, Ma could face up to 10 years in federal prison. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 11.

CNN reached out to Ma's attorneys for comment on the guilty plea, but there has been no response so far.