Aragoncillo pleads guilty

WASHINGTON — Leandro Aragoncillo, a former US Marine who worked at the White House and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as an intelligence analyst, on Thursday admitted passing classified information to Filipino opposition politicians as part of an attempt to overthrow President Arroyo.

Aragoncillo, a Filipino-American, admitted going to Manila and meeting with his co-conspirators at Malacañang on Jan. 12, 2001 — eight days before former President Joseph Estrada was ousted from office, the US Justice Department said.

US Attorney Christopher Christie said the 47-year-old Aragoncillo appeared before US District Judge William Walls in Newark, New Jersey and pleaded guilty to espionage and other charges.

He said Aragoncillo admitted to regularly downloading US national security documents that could be "used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation" and sending these to his Filipino contacts.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said the government is prepared to hand over Estrada to US authorities if he is indicted in the espionage case involving Aragoncillo.

"We will not object to their extradition," Agence France Presse quoted Gonzalez as saying. He was referring to Estrada and opposition Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, who also allegedly received classified documents from Aragoncillo.

"The way it appears, since the Americans considered them unindicted conspirators, the fundamental theory here is that they are part of the conspiracy for the stealing of these documents," he addded.

Among the classified information Aragoncillo passed to his Filipino contacts were sensitive materials relating to terrorist threats to US government interests in the Philippines and the joint military exercises involving American troops in the country.  

During the indictment, Aragoncillo outlined five years of efforts to pass top secret and secret information to Filipino opposition politicians in the effort to unseat Mrs. Arroyo.

Aragoncillo admitted telling an unidentified lawmaker — widely believed to be Lacson — that the documents were like a "blueprint" on how to engineer a coup.

In response, Aragoncillo claimed the senator allegedly told him that the document was "a good reference…. because we are preparing something like this."

Though Aragoncillo did not name the current and former Filipino officials to whom he gave secrets, he specifically identified former police senior superintendent Michael Ray Aquino as his contact in the US.

Like Aragoncillo, Aquino was also arrested in September last year. He is accused of passing information from Aragoncillo to opposition politicians in Manila.

Federal prosecutors identified Estrada, Lacson and Camarines Sur Rep. Arnulfo Fuentebella as among the participants in the plot, according to documents filed in US District Court in Newark.

The efforts appear related to efforts to unseat Mrs. Arroyo, according to FBI charges. Estrada, who is on trial on corruption charges, last week denied allegations that he was part of the spy ring to steal classified US documents.

Lacson also admitted getting information from Aragoncillo but denied they were "classified."

During his indictment, Aragoncillo’s co-conspirators were identified only as "Executive Branch Official #1 and a senior member of the executive branch of the Philippines from June 1998 through January 2001," apparently referring to Estrada who was elected in 1998 but was dislodged from office three years after.

In apparent reference to Lacson, one of the alleged conspirators was "Senator #1, who has served in the Philippine Senate since June 2001 and was formerly the head of the Philippines National Police."

"Representative #1, who served in the Philippines House of Representatives between about 1998 and 2001 and again in 2004," made reference to a congressman, along with another "Representative #2, who served in the House between 1992 and 2001, and again in 2004."

Another conspirator "Mayor #1," was described as a mayor of one of the municipalities located near Metro Manila and the son of Executive Branch Official #1, a reference to former San Juan mayor, Sen. Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada.

Aragoncillo admitted his contacts began on July 27, 2000 when a delegation of Filipino public officials led by " Executive Branch Official #1" and Representative #1," had a meeting with then President Bill Clinton at the White House.

Aragoncillo was then working as staff assistant to Vice President Al Gore’s military advisors and possessed top secret security clearance.

‘Sense of loyalty’

Aragoncillo pleaded guilty to four counts during the indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Newark.

One charged him with conspiracy to transmit national defense information, the second with transmitting national defense information.

The third charge was unlawful retention of national defense information and the fourth unlawful use of a government computer.

After pleading guilty, Aragoncillo faces a maximum punishment of life imprisonment on the first two counts.

For the other two charges there is a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

A Justice Department statement said Aragoncillo got the secrets while working in the office of Cheney and his predecessor, Al Gore.

He was an FBI intelligence analyst at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey when he was arrested on September 2005.

Aragoncillo admitted that his espionage activity continued during his time as FBI analyst.

He was said to have collected classified reports from the White House and given them to the same official in June 2001, after Mrs. Arroyo had taken power.

The former marine said that in telephone and e-mail messages "with Senator No. 1, he advised that the information he was transferring would be useful in assisting Senator No. 1 and his associates in their attempts to destabilize and overthrow the President and government of the Philippines," the US Justice Department said.

Aragoncillo said "Representative #1" contacted him in October 2000 and requested information about the US government’s views about the Philippines.

The congressman reportedly appealed to Aragoncillo "to his sense of loyalty to the Philippines and its people" in requesting the information.

From that time on until his arrest, Aragoncillo admitted to gathering and providing classified documents and information to all his co-conspirators.

He also admitted traveling back to the Philippines in January 2001 for a meeting with his co-conspirators at Malacañang, the indictment said.

On June 1, 2001 Aragoncillo requested his co-conspirators to facilitate the employment of some of his relatives in the Philippines, either in the government or private sector.

Compromising US security

It is not immediately known when Aragoncillo will be sentenced after he pleaded guilty.

He was reportedly cooperating with investigators since his arrest even as he negotiated a plea agreement.

Under the plea agreement, Aragoncillo faces 15 to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors later gathered the sentencing was scheduled for Aug. 14.

Christie said the prosecutors did not seek the death penalty for Aragoncillo because no physical harm resulted from the leaked information.

However, Aragoncillo’s leaking of information "had the potential to compromise US national security," Christie said.

Aragoncillo’s public lawyer Chester Keller said the former FBI intelligence analyst had never intended to harm the United States.

"It was his sole intention to help the people of the Philippines," said Keller, who added Aragoncillo did not even receive any money for his efforts.

As for Aquino, no date has been scheduled for his trial. The former Filipino police colonel was indicted on Oct. 6 on a conspiracy charge which carries a jail sentence of up to five years, and another charge for acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign official, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.

Aquino has pleaded not guilty to the charges and was denied bail since he was considered a flight risk.

Aquino’s lawyer Mark Berman had sought permission from the court to secure the deposition of Estrada and Lacson on videotape and play it before a grand jury.

Berman argued the deposition is critical to Aquino’s defense since both officials "are unlikely to voluntarily travel to the United States."

Berman has said Aquino "is not a supporter of the present President" and remained a friend of Lacson’s. The senator admitted receiving "shallow" information from Aquino and Aragoncillo.

Berman also has said that Aquino had known Aragoncillo for about a year at the time of their arrests and had received information from Aragoncillo, but that nothing was marked "classified."

In October, Aquino pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging conspiracy and acting as an unregistered foreign agent.

At the time, Assistant US Attorney Karl H. Buch said the government intended to bring additional charges against Aquino, a former Philippine National Police (PNP) official living in the New York City borough of Queens.

Acting as an unregistered foreign agent carries a sentence of up to 10 years, while conspiracy carries up to five years in prison. Both carry up to a $250,000 fine.

Aquino and his friend and colleague former police superintendent Cesar Mancao had worked in the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) led by Estrada and Lacson.

Both have been tagged the prime suspects in the murders of public relations practitioner Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000.

The FBI has named Mancao as a material witness in the case against Aquino.

Mancao was taken into custody in Miami last month but freed on bail of $575,000. — With AP, AFP reports