AllHeadlineNewsWashington, DC (AHN) - A Defense Department official gave U.S. secrets to the Chinese for four years, according to a federal grand jury indictment.
Federal prosecutors say James Wilbur Fondren Jr., the deputy director, Washington Liaison Office, of U.S. Pacific Command, gave classified and unclassified information to Tai Shen Kuo, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Taiwan. Kuo had close ties with a top Chinese official, and the FBI says Fondren, 62, knew of this relationship, yet continued to provide the information from November 2004 to Feb. 11, 2008.
Fondren faces up to 60 years in prison if convicted on all the charges against him.
The FBI said in a press release that Fondren provided the information to Kuo under the guise of a consulting service in which Kuo's business was the only client. Fondren would incorporate the information into "opinion pieces" he sold to Kuo, according to the indictment. He also provided what the FBI describes as sensitive, but unclassified Defense Department publications to Kuo.
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