Iraqi spy gets 4 years

CHICAGO, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- A U.S. district judge handed down a 4-year sentence to an Illinois man charged with being an unregistered foreign agent spying on Americans for Iraq.

In April, a jury found Sami Khoshaba Latchin, 61, guilty of being an operative of Saddam Hussein's spy service, conducting unauthorized business with Iraq, falsifying immigration papers and lying to FBI agents, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday.

Latchin was directed "to be at the ready when Saddam Hussein decided he should begin to obtain information from our community," Assistant U.S. Attorney James Conway said.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer agreed, but said Latchin did not pose a threat to national security.

"There's no evidence that -- whatever Mr. Latchin's intentions might have been -- that he ever posed any genuine threat," Pallmeyer said.

"He wasn't very effective as a spy," she added.

Latchin faces deportation, a penalty sought by federal officials, and Pallmeyer suggested she would make a decision soon on whether she should revoke his citizenship, the Chicago Sun-Times said Wednesday.