A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a former Chicago college student to eight years in federal prison for spying on behalf of the Chinese government, saying it was clear that his ultimate goal was to become a “sleeper agent” and infiltrate some of the United States’ most sensitive operations.
Lawyers for Ji Chaoqun had asked U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman for a sentence of time served, portraying Ji as a young and idealistic student manipulated by far more sophisticated members of China’s espionage recruitment agency, and noting he never actually provided his home country with any sensitive U.S. secrets.
In handing down the 96-month term, however, Guzman said he was disturbed by Ji’s “long-range” plans for the future, which included joining the U.S. Army to earn a fast track to citizenship, gain access to sensitive bases and ultimately parlay it into a job with the CIA, FBI or NASA.
