Pentagon Staffer Guilty Of Handing Secrets To China Agent
A Pentagon official pleaded guilty Monday to passing US military secrets to an agent working for China after being showered with gifts and gambling money, the Department of Justice said.
Gregg William Bergersen, 51, faces up to 10 years in jail after admitting to one count of conspiracy to disclose national defense information to persons not entitled to receive it, the department said in a statement.
It said Bergersen started handing secret information in March 2007 to Tai Shen Kuo, 58, a Taiwan-born US citizen with business interests in New Orleans.
Bergersen worked as a weapons systems policy analyst at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which implements the Pentagon’s foreign military sales program.
Unbeknown to Bergersen, Kuo was passing the information to an unnamed Chinese government official. But the DoJ statement said the US official knew the documents, many of which were about US weapons sales to Taiwan, were classified and should not be shared with outsiders.
“During the course of the conspiracy, Kuo cultivated a friendship with Bergersen, bestowing on him gifts, cash payments, dinners, and money for gambling during trips to Las Vegas,” it said.
Bergersen will be sentenced on June 20 and faces up to 10 years behind bars, the statement said. Both Kuo and an alleged conspirator, Chinese citizen Yu Xin Kang, remain held without bond pending espionage charges.
Patrick Rowan, acting assistant attorney general for national security, said Bergersen had “betrayed his oath to serve and protect our nation.”
“This case serves as a reminder that espionage networks are relentless in their efforts to steal our secrets and continue to pose a serious threat to our national security,” he said.
China’s foreign secret service is among the “most aggressive” in trying to steal sensitive US military technology and information, US Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell charged last September.
A week ago, Chinese-born US engineer Chi Mak was jailed for 24 years after being convicted of conspiring to smuggle sensitive technology about US Navy submarines to China.
(AP)
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Shoot the mo fo. It took this long to find one of the rats within the government?
March 31st, 2008 at 6:21 pmI need a freaking beer.
Well, how else could the hope to challenge us, if they can’t steal our technology?
March 31st, 2008 at 6:25 pmOne would think that the very act - nay, the privilege - of walking into the Pentagon every day for work would instill a sense of pride and patriotism. I guess if archangels can betray their kind, so can petty humans. At least God had the good sense to send the dark star to hell. Maybe we should consider the same. I think if I were President, this would be a great opportunity to use my smiting powers.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:26 pmwe’re pissing ourselves away from the inside out. 10 years for this crime? i say they should have taken him out back and shot the son of a bitch. but i guess China succeeding in world domination is no big deal right
March 31st, 2008 at 6:29 pmLeft over clinton appointee no doubt.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:41 pmThe whole freaking government has been infiltrated with enemies. PC’ism has run amok throughout government. The pentagon needs to dig alot deeper than this to find the rest. It isn’t just the chi-coms, it is also the jihadis.
This report doesn’t surprise me at all.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:42 pmWas he a DEM?
March 31st, 2008 at 6:43 pmWhat the hell ever happened to being shot for treason?
March 31st, 2008 at 7:05 pmOr was he one of dem? sorry i had to do it
March 31st, 2008 at 7:07 pmShooting would be too easy. He needs to be beaten to death with a bag full of ball bearings one body part at at time saving the head for last.
March 31st, 2008 at 7:47 pmDEATH
March 31st, 2008 at 8:11 pm10 fucking years for selling out his country…..he should have gotten a firing squad.
April 1st, 2008 at 1:09 am