Ex-FBI analyst faces prison in spy plot aimed at toppling Philippine government

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/international/asia/news/20070718p2g00m0in021000c.html

NEWARK, New Jersey -- A former FBI intelligence analyst who worked under two U.S. vice presidents could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison on Wednesday for passing secret U.S. documents in an effort to topple the Philippine government.

Leandro Aragoncillo, 48, who worked as a military aide to vice presidents Al Gore and Dick Cheney before joining the FBI as a civilian employee at Fort Monmouth, pleaded guilty to four charges in May 2006. The most serious charge, conspiracy to transmit national defense information, can carry the death penalty. But under his plea agreement, Aragoncillo faces 15 to 20 years in prison.

A co-conspirator, Michael Ray Aquino, was sentenced Tuesday to six years and four months in prison. Aquino, 41, a former Philippine National Police officer, pleaded guilty in July 2006 in a deal that spared him a life term had he been convicted of espionage. He admitted possessing secret documents containing information on the United States' confidential intelligence sources and methods, as well as information on terrorist threats to U.S. military personnel in the Philippines.