Ex-FBI Handler of Alleged Chinese Double Agent Pleads Guilty to Lying

[NNN0LHI]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA03IAR5UD.html

Ex-FBI Handler of Alleged Chinese Double Agent Pleads Guilty to Lying About Relationship

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A former FBI agent pleaded guilty Wednesday to lying about his sexual relationship with a woman alleged to be a Chinese double agent.
James. J. Smith pleaded guilty to a single count of making a false statement and agreed to cooperate with the government.

U.S. District Judge Florence Marie Cooper said Smith faced up to five years in prison, but outside court defense attorney Brian Sun said the sentencing guidelines indicate his client would serve no more than six months and perhaps no time.

Sun emphasized that Smith admitted only that he had a sexual relationship with the woman, Katrina Leung, and that he lied to the FBI about it. He did not plead guilty to any counts involving misuse of classified information.

Smith, 60, was the longtime handler of Leung, a naturalized citizen and San Marino socialite who was recruited 20 years ago to work for the FBI, gathering intelligence during frequent business trips to China. Prosecutors claim she began working for China around 1990.

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http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/04/10/katrina.leung.reut/

L.A. agog at arrest of socialite for aiding China

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- For years she was a society hostess, a prominent Chinese-American who hobnobbed with politicians, presidents and millionaires.

But on Thursday Katrina Leung was behind bars and Los Angeles was buzzing with news that she had been charged with being a double agent who passed classified national security information to China obtained during a secret 20-year love affair with her FBI handler.

Leung, 49, was jailed pending a hearing next week and her FBI handler, James Smith, now retired, was released on bail on charges of gross negligence for allegedly allowing Leung to obtain documents from a briefcase he left open at her posh San Marino home during "debriefing" sessions.

Republican activist

She was an activist for former Republican Mayor Richard Riordan, accompanying him on a 1998 trip to China, and a fund-raiser for California's Republican 2002 gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon.

Simon, in a campaign speech last year, called Leung an "old and dear friend," according to a published transcript. Simon could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

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[Fridays Child]

1. I wonder what might have come out if he had fought the charge.

Whose interests were served by his guilty plea? Perhaps, the Republican Party's? Was a scandal averted? Perhaps, a fundraising scandal?