Courts: Former CIA officer accused of retaining classified information

A former Central Intelligence Agency officer is accused of unlawfully retaining national defense information, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

Jerry Chun Shing Lee, aka “Zhen Cheng Li,” formerly of northern Virginia, was arrested Monday night after arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York. Lee is a naturalized United States citizen, who currently resides in Hong Kong, China, according to the release.

Lee began working for the CIA as a case officer in 1994, maintained a Top Secret clearance, and signed numerous non-disclosure agreements during his tenure at CIA, court documents state.

Lee’s security clearance was terminated in 2007 when he left government service, according to the documents.

In Aug. 2012, Lee and his family left Hong Kong to return to the U.S. to live in northern Virginia. They stayed at hotels in Hawaii and Virginia while traveling. FBI agents conducted court-authorized searches of Lee’s hotel rooms and luggage and found he possessed national defense materials, the documents state.

“Specifically, agents found two small books containing handwritten notes that contained classified information, including but not limited to, true names and phone numbers of assets and covert CIA employees, operational notes from asset meetings, operational meeting locations and locations of covert facilities,” the release states.

CIA officials determined the books also included “Secret information,” and in at least one instance, “Top Secret” information, “the disclosure of which could cause exceptionally grave damage to the National Security of the United States,” the court documents state.

Lee is charged with unlawful retention of national defense information and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted, officials said.