Leandro Aparente Aragoncillo (born September 22, 1958) is a Filipino-born American former FBI intelligence analyst and a retired

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

Gunnery Sergeant who was convicted of spying against the United States Government in 2007. A

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

Filipino-American Filipino Americans () are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos in North America were first documented in the 16th century and other small settlements beginning in the 18th century. Mass migration did not begin until after the end of the Sp ...

, he was charged with espionage and with leaking classified information to the regime of a former Filipino president. The FBI labeled Aragoncillo the first known case of espionage within the history of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

. For over thirty-one months, from 1999 to 2001, Aragoncillo was assigned under

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

and then later under Vice President

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American former politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He has been called vice presidency o ...

. Hired to work for the FBI at the Army's Ft. Monmouth base in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

in July 2004, Aragoncillo began sending classified documents in January 2005, according to a federal complaint. On October 5, 2005, Aragoncillo was indicted and arrested in New Jersey for

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

. Federal agents accused him of stealing

classified information Classified information is confidential material that a government deems to be sensitive information which must be protected from unauthorized disclosure that requires special handling and dissemination controls. Access is restricted by law or ...

, including details about

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal-Arroyo (; born April 5, 1947), often referred to as PGMA or GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician who served as the 14th president of the Philippines from Presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 2001 to 2010 ...

and then passing that information onto opposition leaders in the Philippines. According to reports compiled by Filipino intelligence professionals, there were indications of a link between Aragoncillo and the French intelligence service,

Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure The Directorate-General for External Security (, , DGSE) is France's foreign intelligence agency, equivalent to the British MI6 and the American CIA, established on 27 November 1943. The DGSE safeguards French national security through intelli ...

. Frequent visits by Aragoncillo to Manila allegedly were interspersed with clandestine meetings between identified, French operatives and several "illegals" (i.e. unregistered agents) around 2002 to 2004. Statutes used against Aragoncillo: *Count 1: & c -

Espionage Act of 1917 The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law enacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code ( ...

*Count 2: -

McCarran Internal Security Act The Internal Security Act of 1950, (Public Law 81-831), also known as the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950, the McCarran Act after its principal sponsor Sen. Pat McCarran (D-Nevada), or the Concentration Camp Law, is a United States f ...

1950 *Count 3: & 2 -

Comprehensive Crime Control Act The Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 () was the first comprehensive revision of the U.S. criminal code since the early 1900s. It was sponsored by Strom Thurmond James Strom Thurmond Sr. (December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) was an ...

1984 /

Computer Fraud and Abuse Act The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 (CFAA) is a United States cybersecurity bill that was enacted in 1986 as an amendment to existing computer fraud law (), which had been included in the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984. Prior ...

1986 / The National Information Infrastructure Protection Act 1996 / USA Patriot Act 2001 / etc. Michael Ray Aquino, a former deputy director of the Philippines National Police who lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, was arrested also and was charged. He was accused of receiving documents. He pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of secret, U.S. government documents. He faced a jail sentence of between 70 and 87 months plus a fine of $250,000. On July 17, 2007, he was sentenced to six years and four months. Leandro Aragoncillo, on the other hand, was sentenced on July 18, 2007, in New Jersey by U.S. District Judge William H. Walls to ten years in prison. Under a proposed plea agreement, Aragoncillo had faced up to twenty years in prison.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aragoncillo, Leandro 1958 births American military personnel of Filipino descent Double agents Federal Bureau of Investigation agents convicted of espionage Filipino emigrants to the United States French spies Law enforcement officials from New Jersey Law enforcement officials from Washington, D.C. Living people People convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 Post–Cold War spies 21st-century spies United States Marines

See also

References