WASHINGTON, May 13 (UPI) -- A former senior FBI agent has pleaded guilty to concealing a two-decade affair with a woman suspected of being a Chinese double agent.
The plea entered in federal court in Los Angeles was part of a deal with prosecutors and will likely enable James J. Smith, 60, to avoid prison time, the New York Times said Thursday.
It came a week before the government faced a hearing that could have resulted in its having to share classified material with the defense. Three other charges were dropped.
Smith, who worked Chinese counterintelligence for the FBI, admitted he lied to his superiors about his long affair with Chinese-American businesswoman, Katrina Leung, whom he had recruited as an informant.
Leung, suspected of gathering sensitive national security material for the Chinese, faces five criminal counts that could result in significant prison time.
Her defense lawyers said in a statement Wednesday that "the FBI has tried to protect its own and shift blame to Katrina, an outsider, a Chinese-American, and a woman."
