The U.S. Justice Department
released the below information:
Today, a federal jury
convicted Kevin Patrick Mallory, 61, a former Central Intelligence Agency case
officer of Leesburg, Virginia, on espionage charges related to his transmission
of classified documents to an agent of the People’s Republic of China.
Assistant Attorney General
for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger for
the Eastern District of Virginia and Assistant Director in Charge Nancy
McNamara of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement after Senior
U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III accepted the verdict.
“It is a sad day when an
American citizen is convicted of spying on behalf of a foreign power,” said
Assistant Attorney General Demers. “This
act of espionage was no isolated incident.
The People's Republic of China has made a sophisticated and concerted
effort to steal our nation's secrets.
Today's conviction demonstrates that we remain vigilant against this
threat and hold accountable all those who put the United States at risk through
espionage.”
“There are few crimes in this
country more serious than espionage,” said U.S. Attorney Terwilliger. “This office has a long history of holding
those accountable who betray their country and try and profit off of classified
information. This case should send a message to anyone considering violating
the public’s trust and compromising our national security by disclosing
classified information. We will remain steadfast and dogged in pursuit of these
challenging but critical national security cases.”
“This trial highlights a
serious threat to U.S. national security,” said Assistant Director in Charge
McNamara. “Foreign intelligence agents
are targeting former U.S. Government security clearance holders in order to
recruit them and steal our secrets. This case should send a message to foreign
intelligence services and those caught up in their web: we are watching and we
will investigate and prosecute those who willfully violate their obligations to
protect national security secrets. I want to start by thanking the prosecutors
of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the trial attorneys of the Justice Department
and particularly the special agents, analysts and professional staff of the
FBI’s Washington Field Office for their hard work.”
According to court records and
evidence presented at trial, in March and April 2017, Mallory travelled to
Shanghai and met with an individual, Michael Yang, whom he quickly concluded
was working for the People’s Republic of China Intelligence Service (PRCIS). During a voluntary interview with FBI agents
on May 24, 2007, Mallory stated that Yang represented himself as working for a
People’s Republic of China think tank, however Mallory stated that he assessed
Yang to be a Chinese Intelligence Officer.
Mallory, a U.S. citizen who
speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese, told FBI agents he travelled to Shanghai in
March and April to meet with Yang and Yang’s boss. After Mallory consented to a review of a
covert communications (covcom) device he had been given by Yang in order to
communicate covertly with Yang, FBI agents viewed a message from Mallory to
Yang in which Mallory stated that he could come in the middle of June and he
could bring the remainder of the documents with him at that time. Analysis of the device, which was a Samsung
Galaxy smartphone, also revealed a handwritten index describing eight different
documents later determined to be classified.
Four of the eight documents listed in the index were found stored on the
device, with three being confirmed as containing classified information
pertaining to the same U.S. government agency.
One of those documents was classified TOP SECRET, while the remaining
two documents were classified SECRET.
FBI analysts were able to determine that Mallory had completed all of
the steps necessary to securely transmit at least four documents via the covcom
device, one of which contained unique identifiers for human sources who had
helped the U.S. government.
Evidence presented at trial
included surveillance video from a FedEx store in Leesburg where Mallory could
be seen scanning the eight classified documents and a handwritten table of
contents onto a micro SD card. Though
Mallory shredded the paper copies of the eight documents, an SD card containing
those documents and table of contents was later found carefully concealed in
his house when it was searched on June 22, 2017, the date of his arrest. A recording was played at trial from June 24,
2017, where Mallory could be heard on a call from the jail calling his family
to ask them to search for the SD card.
Mallory has held numerous
positions with various government agencies and several defense contractors,
including working as a covert case officer for the CIA and an intelligence
officer for the Defense Intelligence Agency.
As required for his various government positions, Mallory obtained a Top
Secret security clearance, which was active during various assignments during
his career. Mallory’s security clearance
was terminated in October 2012 when he left government service.
Mallory was convicted of
conspiracy to deliver, attempted delivery, delivery of defense information to
aid a foreign government, and making material false statements. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison
when sentenced on Sept. 21. The
statutory maximum penalty is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for
informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be
determined by the judge.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys John
T. Gibbs and Colleen E. Garcia of the Eastern District of Virginia, and Trial Attorney
Jennifer Kennedy Gellie of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence
and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.
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