Former CIA officer sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit espionage

A former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer, who pleaded guilty in May to conspiring to gather and deliver national defense information to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), will serve 10 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Chief US District Judge Derrick K. Watson imposed the sentence this morning in Honolulu.

Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, 71, of Honolulu, was arrested in August 2020, after admitting to an undercover FBI employee that he had facilitated the provision of classified information to intelligence officers employed by the PRC’s Shanghai State Security Bureau.

The sentence was announced by US Attorney for the District of Hawaiʻi Clare E. Connors, Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen, FBI Assistant Director for Counterintelligence Kevin Vorndran, and Special Agent in Charge Steven Merrill of the FBI’s Honolulu Field Office.

“Despite his sworn oath to protect US classified secrets from illegal disclosure, Alexander Ma chose to betray his oath for money while aiding the People’s Republic of China,” said United States Attorney Clare E. Connors. “Bringing Alexander Ma to justice, even after the passage of many years, affirms our commitment to holding accountable those who violate our nation’s trust and security.”

“This sentence demonstrates the dedication of the United States to protect itself from this type of betrayal and violation of trust,” said FBI Honolulu Special Agent in Charge Steven Merrill. “Let it be a message to anyone else thinking of doing the same. No matter how long it takes, or how much time passes, you will be brought to justice.”

Ma worked for the CIA from 1982 until 1989. His blood relative (identified as co-conspirator No. 1 or CC No. 1 in court documents), who is deceased, also worked for the CIA from 1967 until 1983. As CIA officers, both men held Top Secret security clearances that granted them access to sensitive and classified CIA information, and both signed non-disclosure agreements.

As Ma admitted in the plea agreement, in March 2001, over a decade after he resigned from the CIA, Ma was contacted by SSSB intelligence officers, who asked Ma to arrange a meeting between CC No. 1 and the SSSB. Ma convinced CC No. 1 to agree, and both Ma and CC No. 1 met with SSSB intelligence officers in a Hong Kong hotel room for three days. During the meetings, CC No. 1 provided the SSSB with a large volume of classified US national defense information in return for $50,000 in cash. Ma and CC #1 also agreed to continue to assist the SSSB.

In March 2003, while living in Hawaiʻi, Ma applied for a job as a contract linguist in the FBI’s Honolulu Field Office. The FBI, aware of Ma’s ties to PRC intelligence, hired Ma as part of a ruse to monitor and investigate his activities and contacts with the SSSB. Ma worked part time at an off-site location for the FBI from August 2004 until October 2012.

As detailed in the plea agreement, in February 2006, Ma was tasked by the SSSB with asking CC No. 1 to identify four individuals of interest to the SSSB from photographs. Ma convinced CC No. 1 to provide the identities of at least two of the individuals, whose identities were and remain classified US national defense information.

Ma confessed that he knowingly and willfully conspired with CC No. 1 and SSSB intelligence officers to communicate and transmit information that he knew would be used to injure the United States or to advantage the PRC, according to a Justice Department news release. In court documents and at today’s sentencing hearing, the government noted that Ma was convicted of a years-long conspiracy to commit espionage, a serious breach of national security that caused the government to expend substantial investigative resources. The government also noted that Ma’s role in the conspiracy was to facilitate the exchange of information between CC No. 1 and the SSSB, which consisted of classified CIA information that CC No. 1 had obtained between 1967 and 1983.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Ma must cooperate with the United States for the rest of his life, including by submitting to debriefings by US government agencies. At the sentencing hearing, government counsel told the Court that Ma has been cooperative and has taken part in multiple interview sessions with government agents.

US Attorney Connors and Assistant Attorney General Olsen commended the FBI for its work in the investigation and thanked the CIA for its assistance. The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Honolulu and Los Angeles Field Offices. Assistant US Attorneys Ken Sorenson and Craig Nolan, and Trial Attorneys Scott Claffee and Leslie Esbrook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section prosecuted the case.