A former CIA officer, Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, aged 71, has been sentenced to a decade in federal prison for espionage activities connected to the People's Republic of China. This ruling arrives from the Chief U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson this morning in Honolulu, where Ma faced the consequences of conspiring to provide national defense information to a foreign power.

As reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Hawaii, Ma was nabbed in August 2020 after to quickly admit his crimes to an undercover FBI agent. He and a relative, now deceased, who was also a former CIA operative, had leaked classified information to the Shanghai State Security Bureau (SSSB) of China.

Ma's actions were a stark violation of his sworn oath to protect U.S. classified secrets from illegal disclosure, said U.S. Attorney Clare E. Connors. She stressed the importance of upholding the nation's security by stating, "Bringing Alexander Ma to justice, even after the passage of many years, affirms our commitment to holding accountable those who violate our nation’s trust and security." Special Agent in Charge Steven Merrill of the FBI's Honolulu Field Office, as reported by U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Hawaii.

Having worked for the CIA from 1982 to 1989, Ma had access to top-level classified information. In the early 2000s, Ma shifted to engage more actively with the PRC's agents, eventually working as a part-time contract linguist for the FBI—a role that the Bureau used as a ruse to watch Ma more closely.

According to the plea agreement, Ma's espionage involved substantial exchanges with the SSSB over the years and has necessitated significant investigation resources. He is now required to cooperate with the United States for the rest of his life, which includes submitting to debriefings by U.S. government agencies—a point elaborated on at his sentencing hearing where government counsel noted Ma's compliance and participation in multiple interview sessions.

The FBI's Honolulu and Los Angeles Field Offices conducted the investigation, leading to Ma's arrest and sentencing. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ken Sorenson and Craig Nolan, and Trial Attorneys Scott Claffee and Leslie Esbrook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, prosecuted the case, as recognized by both U.S. Attorney Connors and Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen.