A Utah man who once served as a case officer for the Defense Intelligence Agency has pleaded guilty to trying to spy on the United States on behalf of China.
As part of the plea agreement, Syracuse resident Ron Rockwell Hansen, 59, will likely spend 15 years in federal prison, according to a news release from Utah’s U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Hansen worked with the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2000 to 2006 when he was a warrant officer in the Army. After leaving the Army in 2006, he was hired by the Defense Intelligence Agency, where he learned to speak both Mandarin-Chinese and Russian fluently as part of his training.