A former CIA officer and contract linguist for the FBI who received cash, golf clubs and other expensive gifts in exchange for spying for China has been sentenced to a decade in prison.

A former CIA officer and contract linguist for the FBI who received cash, golf clubs and other expensive gifts in exchange for spying for China was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison.

Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, 71, made a deal in May with federal prosecutors, who agreed to recommend the 10-year term in exchange for his guilty plea to a count of conspiracy to gather or deliver national defense information to a foreign government. The deal also requires him to submit to polygraph tests, whenever requested by the U.S. government, for the rest of his life.

…

Ma was born in Hong Kong, moved to Honolulu in 1968 and became a U.S. citizen in 1975. He joined the CIA in 1982, was assigned overseas the following year, and resigned in 1989. He held a top secret security clearance, according to court documents.

    • designatedhacker@lemm.ee
      121·
      2 months ago

      Maybe they mean a real one with fMRI. Or maybe just signaling to China that their assets get interviewed for life.

    • prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works
      121·
      2 months ago

      The polygraph test itself is debunked but the very real human intelligence you gain from administering one is invaluable.

      This feels akin to them having to talk to their parole officer once a week and piss in a cup.

      • snooggums@lemmy.worldEnglish
        101·
        2 months ago

        It is atill an effective intimidation tactic.

        In this case, him knowing the government will claim he is lying if stressed, and that the testing that indicates stress is completely arbitrary due to being pseudoscience. It is an effective way to get him to comply since he knows the government can claim the results are whatever they want the results to be.

        That if course makes it cruel and unusual and the government shouldn’t be using polygraphs. Just explaining the reason.