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Former Marine Sentenced for Spying
Reuters and AP,AOL Wire Services
Posted: 2007-07-18 23:48:20
Filed Under: Crime News, World
NEWARK, New Jersey (July 1 - A former White House official who took top secret documents from U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's office and gave them to opposition figures in the Philippines was sentenced on Wednesday to 10 years in prison.

Philippine-born Leandro Aragoncillo, a U.S. citizen and former Marine, pleaded guilty last year to taking the documents that included details on threats against U.S. government interests and military personnel in the Philippines.

Aragoncillo worked as a military aide to vice presidents Al Gore and Cheney starting in the late 1990s before joining the FBI as a civilian employee at Fort Monmouth.

"There's no doubt that you did betray a position of trust that very few people are able to occupy," Judge William Walls told Aragoncillo.

The case caused a political scandal in the Philippines because the documents were used by opponents of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to try to oust her.

Prosecutors have named former Philippine President Joseph Estrada, Sen. Panfilo Lacson and former House of Representatives Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella as unindicted co-conspirators in the plot. The investigation is ongoing.

"I never intended to cause harm or injury to the United States, its government or its people," Aragoncillo said. "My only wish and intent was to help the poor Philippine people."

Prosecutors told the court Aragoncillo used a fax machine in Cheney's office to send documents to the Philippines. They said up to 800 classified documents had been compromised by Aragoncillo, as well as the name of a U.S. government source.

"This wasn't compassion, this was his ego. Mr Aragoncillo very much liked his access," prosecutor Karl Buch told reporters outside the court.

Michael Ray Aquino, a former top police official in the Philippines, was sentenced to more than six years prison on Tuesday after pleading guilty to unlawfully possessing and retaining documents and information taken by Aragoncillo.

Aquino, 41, admitted possessing secret documents containing information on the United States' confidential intelligence sources and methods, as well as information on terrorist threats to U.S. military personnel in the Philippines.

Prosecutors said Aragoncillo was recruited in 2000 by opposition forces and began working with Aquino in early 2005. Aragoncillo admitted passing information to Aquino and opposition politicians in his homeland who wanted to oust Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.