Defense Department Official Convicted in Espionage Case

A Defense Department official was convicted Friday of providing classified information to a Chinese government agent and lying to the FBI about it.

A federal jury in Alexandria convicted James W. Fondren Jr. on three counts, prosecutors said. He was acquitted on four other espionage-related counts. Fondren was the second Pentagon official charged in an espionage ring that provided highly sensitive military information to China.

Fondren, 62, faces as much as 20 years in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 22. He has been on paid administrative leave from his job as deputy director for the Washington Liaison Office of the U.S. Pacific Command.