James J. Smith is a retired
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
Supervisory Special agent. He served the FBI from October 1970 to November 2000 and specialized in
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
counterintelligence
Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or ot ...
. He was based in the FBI's
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
field office.
Career
Smith was an FBI agent who supervised the LA Field Office's Foreign Counterintelligence (FCI) China squad from 1998 until his retirement in November 2000.
Smith helped the FBI's investigation into the possibility that China tried to contribute money to the 1996
US election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
s in order to gain influence.
2003 arrest
Smith was arrested on Wednesday, April 9, 2003 and charged with gross negligence for allowing an FBI asset,
Katrina Leung access to classified material. He allegedly had an affair with Leung for 20 years, and allegedly brought classified materials to their trysts. In 2003, he and Leung pleaded not guilty.
2004 plea agreement
Smith pleaded guilty to a charge of falsely concealing his alleged affair with Katrina Leung, from the FBI. He was sentenced to three months' home confinement for
lying to the FBI about his affair. He also was ordered to perform 100 hours of
community service
Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performe ...
. The plea allowed Smith to avoid prison time. Prosecutors also agreed to drop three other charges, including two counts of gross negligence in his handling of national security documents.
["F.B.I. Agent Pleads Guilty In Deal in Chinese Spy Case"]
New York Times
/ref>
See also
* Katrina Leung
References
External links
Affidavit
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, James J.
American spies
American people convicted of making false statements
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents convicted of crimes