DATE=9/10/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=WEN HO LEE RELEASE (L)
NUMBER=2-266326
BYLINE=BARRY WOOD
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: U-S authorities say there has been a plea
agreement between government prosecutors and attorneys
for Wen Ho Lee, the Taiwanese-American scientist, who
had been charged with compromising U-S nuclear weapons
secrets. VOA's Barry Wood reports that Mr. Lee is
likely to be released from prison Monday afternoon in
New Mexico.
TEXT: Mr. Lee is pleading guilty to one of the 59
charges brought by U-S prosecutors. He will admit to
mishandling classified government material at the Los
Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory in New Mexico, where
he worked. The agreement is expected to be approved
by a Federal judge in Albuquerque, after which Mr. Lee
will go free. He is expected to be sentenced to the
time he has already served in prison. He has been
imprisoned since last December.
The agreement is being seen as a significant retreat
by U-S prosecutors who had presented Mr. Lee as a spy
for China and a threat to U-S national security.
Mr. Lee worked on weapons design at the Los Alamos
laboratory. He is agreeing to cooperate with
investigators in locating missing classified material.
Legal experts say the government's case against Mr.
Lee was overstated. The prosecution was hurt by
admitted false testimony and lack of credible proof
that Mr. Lee had passed sensitive information to
China. There were also allegations that Mr. Lee was
victimized because of his ethnic Chinese identity.
The plea agreement may mark the end of what has been
one of the most complex espionage cases in modern U-S
history. A trial was to have begun in November. Mr.
Lee's family earlier filed charges against the Federal
Bureau of Investigation and has been seeking his
release on bail. (Signed)
NEB/BW/FC
10-Sep-2000 22:28 PM EDT (11-Sep-2000 0228 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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