China Spy FBI Agent Pleads Guilty

A former FBI agent pleaded guilty Wednesday to lying about his affair with a woman alleged to be a Chinese double agent.

James. J. Smith pleaded guilty to a single count of making false statements and agreed to cooperate with the government. He faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced.

Smith was the longtime handler and lover of Katrina Leung, a naturalized citizen and 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.

Smith was originally charged with gross negligence for allegedly allowing Leung access to classified materials and with mail fraud for allegedly filing false reports to FBI headquarters about her reliability. He faced 40 years in prison if convicted of those charges.

Leung is charged with taking classified documents from Smith's briefcase, although she has not been accused of relaying that information to China.

She faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted of illegally copying and possessing national security papers that she intended to use, or could have used, to harm the interests of the United States. She has denied the allegations.