07-24-06 -- Aquino, Michael Ray -- Guilty Plea -- News Release
Former Philippines National Police Official Pleads Guilty to Espionage; Admits Possessing National Defense Documents
NEWARK, N.J. – A former senior officer of the Philippines National Police (PNP) admitted today that he received documents containing national defense information from a former U.S. Marine who worked at times under two administrations in the Office of the Vice President of the United States and as an intelligence analyst of the FBI, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.
Michael Ray Aquino, 40, admitted that beginning in January 2005, he received documents and information from former Marine Leandro Aragoncillo that contained national defense information, including information about threats to U.S. military personal in the Republic of the Philippines (ROP) and confidential intelligence sources and methods of the U.S. government. Aquino admitted that Aragoncillo, using the alias “Juan Miguel,” transmitted the documents to him via e-mail, and warned that the documents contained sensitive information that should not be disseminated to others.
Aragoncillo also warned Aquino to protect his identity as the source of the documents. Finally, Aquino admitted that his unlawful retention of the national defense documents continued until his arrest on September 10, 2005.
Aquino, who has been in federal custody since his arrest, entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge William H. Walls, who scheduled sentencing for Oct. 30. Aquino faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
“Aquino is now an admitted spy, who cultivated and used Aragoncillo, a willing accomplice, to transfer U.S. intelligence secrets abroad,” said Christie. “He did this at the behest of a high-level government official in the Philippine legislature. We view that as a grave intrusion on the integrity of our national security, and we will seek the longest prison sentence possible for Aquino.”
Aquino is a ROP citizen who entered the United States on July 5, 2001 on a tourist visa. Aquino left the ROP at that time in the face of an investigation by the ROP Department of Justice for his alleged role in the murder of two individuals in the ROP. Aquino has subsequently been charged as a principal in their murders. Aquino previously served as a Senior Superintendent (colonel-equivalent) in the PNP, rising to the position of Deputy Director, and Acting Officer-In-Charge, of the PNP Intelligence Group. In addition, he served as the Chief of the Operations Division of the now-defunct ROP Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force.
On Oct. 6, 2005, a federal grand jury returned a two-count Indictment against Aquino
charging him with defrauding the United States by conspiring with Aragoncillo and others to receive classified information from Aragoncillo. Aquino was also charged with acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government official. Aquino pleaded guilty today to a Superseding Information that charged him with unlawfully possessing and retaining documents and information relating to the national defense.
Under the terms of Aquino’s plea agreement, the parties will make their respective arguments at sentencing. The government calculates Aquino’s sentence under the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines to be at least 70 months and up to 120 months (assuming certain adjustments and upward departures).
On May 4, 2006, Aragoncillo pleaded guilty to four counts of an Indictment returned by a federal grand jury. Count One charged him with Conspiracy to Transmit National Defense Information; Count Two charged him with Transmission of National Defense Information. The maximum statutory penalty on those counts for Aragoncillo is any term of years up to life in prison. Count Three charged Aragoncillo with Unlawful Retention of National Defense Information, and Count Four charged him with Unlawful Use of a Government Computer, both of which carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Leslie Wiser, Jr., in Newark, for their investigation of the espionage case.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karl H. Buch and Michael Buchanan, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division, and Clifford I. Rones, Senior Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice in Washington.
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Defense Counsel: Mark Berman, Esq., and Robert Marasco, Esq., Newark