Former CIA officer Jerry Lee sentenced to 19 years for handing U.S. info to China

Today, a federal judge sentenced former CIA officer Jerry Lee to 19 years in prison. He was convicted of gathering United States defense information and other sensitive information, and handing it over to agents for the government of China.

BREAKING: A federal judge has sentenced former CIA agent Jerry Lee to 19 years in prison for gathering defense information and sensitive information and handing it over to China. @PeteWilliamsNBC reports.

- Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) November 22, 2019

Ex-CIA officer Jerry Lee about to be sentenced. Government says it's "all but certain" he gave classified info to Chinese for $800K; he maintains he never did https://t.co/4lSLY04w8N

- Rachel Weiner (@rachelweinerwp) November 22, 2019

And from the backstory by Washington Post reporter Rachel Weiner:

Jerry Chun Shing Lee, 55, was trying to return to the CIA even as he was gathering information requested by Chinese spies and being paid more than $840,000 from unexplained sources. According to prosecutors, he eventually admitted getting at least 21 tasks from Chinese operatives, including requests to provide CIA names, methods and locations.

What he told the Chinese in response is still unclear. Lee insists that he never handed over the secrets he collected for his Chinese handlers, and prosecutors were unable to prove otherwise. But they say in a sentencing memorandum it is "all but certain" that some classified information was disclosed, although "we can never be sure of exactly how much."