Virginia Consultant Charged with EspionageVirginia Consultant Charged with Espionage

A Virginia man faces espionage charges for transmitting top secret and secret documents to China, according to the Department of Justice.

Kevin Patrick Mallory, 60, a consultant for GlobalEx LLC, is charged with meeting with an assumed member of the People's Republic of China Intelligence Service agency and sharing top secret documents with that individual. Mallory also allegedly planned to continue sharing top secret materials in the future, according to the DOJ. 

Mallory previously held positions in government and with government contractors that afforded him top secret security clearance; that clearance was terminated in 2012 when he left government service, according to the DOJ.

In a voluntary interview with the FBI in May, Mallory stated the person he met with in China represented themselves as an employee of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS), a purported think tank. The FBI, however, notes that Chinese intelligence officers have used the SASS as a front to cover their identities, according to the DOJ.

Mallory is charged with gathering or delivering defense information to aid a foreign government and making material false statements. He could face life in prison if convicted.

Read more about Mallory's case here.