A former C.I.A. officer was sentenced on Friday to 20 years in prison by a federal judge in Northern Virginia for passing secrets to China in return for $25,000, bringing to a close one of several cases involving Chinese attempts to recruit former American intelligence officers.
The officer, Kevin Patrick Mallory of Leesburg, Va., had faced life in prison but Judge T. S. Ellis III decided that was too harsh. Still, it was more than the 10-year sentence that Mr. Mallory’s lawyers had argued was appropriate. “Mallory not only put our country at great risk, but he endangered the lives of specific human assets who put their own safety at risk for our national defense,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
The officer, Kevin Patrick Mallory of Leesburg, Va., had faced life in prison but Judge T. S. Ellis III decided that was too harsh. Still, it was more than the 10-year sentence that Mr. Mallory’s lawyers had argued was appropriate. “Mallory not only put our country at great risk, but he endangered the lives of specific human assets who put their own safety at risk for our national defense,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.