Jerry Chun Shing Lee spy trial: ex-CIA officer pleads not guilty, will wait a year before trial in US
Hong Kong-born Lee, suspected of being at the centre of one of the largest US intelligence breaches in decades, appears in a Virginia court
A former CIA officer and Hong Kong resident accused of passing top secret information to Chinese intelligence officers in exchange for money will have to wait a year before going on trial in the United States.
Jerry Chun Shing Lee, an American citizen who worked for the CIA from 1994 to 2007, pleaded not guilty on Friday to one charge of conspiracy to commit espionage and two of illegally retaining classified information.
Lee, 53, appeared for arraignment in a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, “unshackled in a green jumpsuit and glasses”, according to CNN. US District Judge Thomas Selby Ellis III set his trial date for February 12, 2019.
Many in the American government believe Lee – also known as Zhen Cheng Li – was a mole who helped China dismantle the US spy network in the Asian country. According to The New York Times, 18 to 20 informants were killed or imprisoned in China, with the first signs of trouble emerging in 2010.