Spy For Communist China Sentenced To 48 Months In Prison

In the wake of a White House state dinner for the Communist Chinese president, the U.S. Justice Department announced that Glenn Duffie Shriver, 28, of Grand Rapids, Mich., was sentenced to 48 months in prison for conspiring to provide national defense information to Chinese intelligence officers.

Neil H. MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady.

On Oct. 22, 2010, Shriver pleaded guilty to a one-count criminal information charging him with conspiracy to communicate national defense information to a person not entitled to receive it.

“Mr. Shriver sold out his country and repeatedly sought a position in our intelligence community so that he could provide classified information to the People’s Republic of China (PRC),"
said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “Attempts to gain access to sensitive information are a serious threat to our national security. We are doing everything in our power to find and punish those who seek to betray our country.”

According to a statement of facts filed with his plea agreement, Shriver is proficient in Mandarin Chinese and lived in the PRC both as an undergraduate student and after graduation. While living in Shanghai in October 2004, Shriver developed a relationship with three individuals whom he came to learn were PRC intelligence officers.

At the request of these foreign agents, Shriver agreed to return to the United States and apply for positions in U.S. intelligence agencies or law enforcement organizations.

Shriver admitted in court that he knew that his ultimate objective was to obtain a position with a federal department or agency that would afford him access to classified national defense information, which he would then transmit to the PRC officers in return for cash payments.

From 2005 to 2010, Shriver attempted to gain employment as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State and as a clandestine service officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. Shriver admitted that, during this time, he maintained frequent contact with the PRC intelligence officers and received more than $70,000 in three separate cash payments for what the officers called his “friendship.”

In December 2009, Shriver received notice that he was to report to Washington, D.C., in May 2010 for employment processing activities with the CIA.

Shriver admitted that he communicated with a PRC intelligence officer that he was “making some progress” in obtaining a position with the CIA and that he would not be free to travel to PRC for another meeting because it could raise suspicion with federal agents conducting his background investigation.

Shriver admitted that he made false statements on the CIA questionnaire required for employment stating that he had not had any contact with a foreign government or its representative during the last seven years, when in fact he had met in person with one or more of the officers approximately 20 times since 2004.

He also deliberately omitted his travel to PRC in 2007 when he received a $40,000 cash payment from the PRC for applying to the CIA. In addition, Shriver made false statements during a series of screening interviews at the CIA, and he admitted he made each of the false statements to conceal his illicit relationship with the PRC intelligence officers.

This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen M. Campbell of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Brandon L. Van Grack of the Counterespionage Section in the National Security Division are prosecuting the case.