HONOLULU — A former CIA officer and FBI contract linguist accused of spying for China for at least a decade pleaded guilty Friday in federal court in Honolulu.
Alexander Yuk Chin Ma, 72, has been in custody since his arrest in August 2020. The Justice Department said in court filings that it had gathered “a large amount of incriminating evidence” against him, including an hour-long video showing Ma and an older relative, also a former CIA officer, providing classified information to Chinese Ministry of State Security operatives in 2001.
According to prosecutors, the video shows Ma counting out the $50,000 he received from the Chinese agent as payment for his services.
During the sting operation, prosecutors said, he accepted thousands of dollars in cash in return for past espionage activities and told an undercover FBI agent posing as a Chinese spy that he wanted to see “the motherland” succeed.
According to the indictment, the secret information he allegedly provided included information about CIA sources, assets, international operations, secure communications and operational techniques.
As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Ma pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiracy to collect or provide defense information to a foreign government. The agreement provides for a 10-year prison sentence, but the judge will make the final decision at Ma’s sentencing, scheduled for Sept. 11. Without the agreement, Ma could have faced life in prison.
Ma was born in Hong Kong, moved to Honolulu in 1968 and became a U.S. citizen in 1975. He joined the CIA in 1982, was posted overseas the following year and resigned in 1989. He held top secret security clearance, according to court documents.
Ma lived and worked in Shanghai, China, before returning to Hawaii in 2001. He was hired as a contract linguist with the FBI’s Honolulu field office in 2004, and prosecutors say he regularly copied, photographed and stole classified documents over the next six years. Prosecutors say he frequently smuggled classified documents back to China, bringing back expensive gifts such as thousands of dollars in cash and a brand new set of golf clubs.
In court on Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson said Ma’s hiring as a part-time contract linguist was a “ploy” to monitor contacts with Chinese intelligence.
In 2006, while Mr. Ma was living in Hawaii, Chinese spies sent him photos of people they wanted to identify. Mr. Sorenson and Mr. Ma contacted relatives of the conspirators and persuaded them to identify at least two of them.
Ma pleaded guilty and said everything Sorenson said was true. He said he signed non-disclosure agreements that he knew would remain in effect after he left the CIA and that he knew the information he provided to Chinese intelligence could harm the United States or help a foreign country.
In 2021, Ma’s former lawyer told a judge that he believed Ma had the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and was having trouble remembering things.
The defense motion noted that Ma’s older brother developed Alzheimer’s disease 10 years ago and was completely disabled by the disease. He was mentioned as a co-conspirator in the indictment against Ma, but prosecutors did not charge him because of his incapacity due to Alzheimer’s, the motion said.
Sorenson said in court Friday that his co-conspirator is now dead.
A judge found last year that Marr was competent and did not suffer from any significant mental illness, disorder or defect.
