""The price of Michael Schena's disgraceful betrayal of his country is far more than the paltry amount for which he traded his honor," said Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. "His acts of selfish avarice left that price to be paid by the faithful women and men of our intelligence community and the nation they serve. The cost Schena will pay is the loss of his integrity, his reputation, and, by today's sentence, his freedom.""
""The defendant threw away his career, betrayed his country, and abused the trust the United States placed in him by granting his Top Secret security clearance. He will spend years of his life in prison for passing classified information to individuals he believed to be Chinese government agents," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. "Today's sentence serves as a warning to those who would violate the trust placed in them by our Nation and double-cross the American people.""
""Michael Schena deliberately undermined U.S. national security and put American lives at risk by selling classified information to the Chinese Government," said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division. "The Chinese government continues to aggressively target U.S. government employees to steal our classified information, and this sentencing makes clear the FBI and our partners will do everything in our power to defend the Homeland. Anyone thinking of betraying their oath to the United States should consider the severe consequences and know the FBI will work tirelessly to bring them to justice.""
A U.S. Department of State employee received a four-year prison sentence for conspiring to collect and transmit national defense information to individuals known to be working for the People's Republic of China. The conduct involved abuse of a Top Secret security clearance and the deliberate undermining of U.S. national security that placed American lives at risk. The sentencing was presented as a deterrent, emphasizing vigorous defense of classified information and the pursuit of those who betray their oaths. The case highlights aggressive PRC targeting of U.S. government employees for intelligence collection.
Read at DataBreaches.Net
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