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EX-FBI agent sentenced as spy case closes
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-07-19 09:13
LOS ANGELES - A former FBI agent who failed to tell his superiors about
an affair with an informant later arrested as a double agent for China was
sentenced on Monday to three months' home confinement.
Retired FBI agent
James J. Smith is seen in this July 8, 2003 file photo outside federal
courthouse in Los Angeles. [AP] | The sentencing
of James. J. Smith was a low-key conclusion to a case that started as a
high-profile prosecution of a supposed spy and ended with the dismissal of all
charges against the main defendant.
Smith pleaded guilty in May to lying to the FBI about his adulterous 18-year
affair with FBI informant Katrina Leung. Leung, who was known as "Parlor Maid,"
was arrested in 2003. Prosecutors portrayed her as a double agent for China, but
she was ultimately charged only with taking classified documents from Smith.
The charges against Leung were thrown out in January by a federal judge who
cited "willful and deliberate misconduct" by prosecutors. Prosecutors barred
Smith from talking to defense lawyers, depriving Leung of a critical defense
witness.
The news of Leung's arrest and lengthy affair caused a sensation in Los
Angeles, where she was a prominent businesswoman, society hostess and political
activist.
Katrina
Leung | Smith, who worked for the FBI for almost
20 years, was also ordered to perform 100 hours of community service. His
sentence was lighter than the two months in prison requested by federal
prosecutors.
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